Ani DiFranco

[fox69]

"Crime For Crime"

"Crime For Crime"



the big day has come
the bell is sounding
i run my hands through my hair one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
people are trading crime for crime

everyone needs to see the prisoner
they need to make it even easier
they see me as a symbol, and not a human being
that way they can kill me
say it's not murder, it's a metaphor
we are killing off our own failure
and starting clean

standing in the gallows
everyone turned my way
i hear a voice ask me
if I've got any last words to say
and i'm looking out over the field of familiar eyes
somewhere in a woman's arms a baby cries

i think guilt and innocence
they are a matter of degree
what might be justice to you
might not be justice to me
i went to far, i'm sorry
i guess now i'm going home
so let any amongst you cast the first stone
now we've got all these complicated machines
so no one person ever has to have blood on their hands
we've got complex organizations
and if everyone just does their job
no one person has to understand

you might be the wrong colour
you might be too poor
justice isn't something just anyone can afford
you might not pull the trigger
you might be out in the car
and you might get a lethal injection
'cause we take a metaphor that far

the big day has come
the bell is sounding
i run my hands through my hair one last time
outside the prison walls
the town has gathered
people are trading crime for crime
people are trading crime for crime
people are still trading crime for crime

 

[fox69]

"Decree"

"Decree"



Step up and forfeit your frontal lobe
To the sexed up stroll of celebrity
Never mind that the nanoseconds in between
Are some of the darkest darkness that you've ever seen
Keep your eye on my finger
And listen to the sound of my voice

Get your subliminal decree
And your false security
Be all that you can be
Be all that you can be

In hospitals and schools
Airports and banks and bars
Big ones on street corners
Little ones driving by in cars
And glowing through countless
Bedroom curtains at night
That 30k tone
And that pale blue light saying

Daddy knows best
Yes, this is the news
In 90 second segments officially produced
And aired again and again and again
By the little black and white pawns
Of the network yes men
While the stars are going out
And the stripes are getting bent

And cancer, the great teacher
Has been opening schools
Downstream from every factory
Still, everywhere fools are
Squinting into microscopes
Researching cells
Trying to figure out a way
That we can all live in hell

Well, step back, look up
You'll see I'm dimming the sun
But you won't, will you?
Oh, that's a good little one

'cause daddy knows best
Yes, this is the news
In 90 second segments officially produced
And aired again and again and again
By the little black and white pawns
Of the network yes men
While the stars are going out
And the stripes are getting bent

The stars are going out
And the stripes are getting bent

 

[fox69]

"Deep Dish"

"Deep Dish"



cold and drizzly night in chicago's deep dish
fluorescent light of the bathroom
shows my hands as they are
see an eyelash on my cheek
pick it off and make a wish
and walk back out into the bar
wind at the windows
neon lights the patterned pane
the waitress wields the weight
of her tray around her palm
the doorman cups his hand
and lights his cigarette again
and the rain marches on

this is only a possibility in a world of possibilities
there are obviously there are many possibilities
ranging from small to large
before long there will be short
before short there was nothing
when there was nothing
tehere was always the possibility
of something becoming what it is

don't even bother trying
to say something clever
clever is as clever does
no matter what it says
i'm looking for a sign
says you're for real this time
but i don't trust what's in your head
i walk up to the bar
and point to the top shelf
and then i throw my head back
and laugh at myself
i raise a toast to all our saviors
each so badly behaved
it's too bad that tehir world
is the one that they saved

there's a spider spinning cobwebs
from your elbow to the table
while my eyes ride the crowd
in a secret rodeo
i smile with my mouth
lift my watch up to the light
say oh, look, i have to go
now you got to dance with me, now is when
it's gotta be
cuz i can't wait for the dance floor to fill in
if you want to dance with me, i'll show you
how it's gonna be
cuz i can't wait for the bad to begin

 

[fox69]

"Dilate"

"Dilate"



life used to be life-like
now it's more like showbiz
i wake up in the night
and i don't know where the bathroom is
and i don't know what town i'm in
or what sky i am under
and i wake up in the darkness and i
don't have the will anymore to wonder
everyone has a skeleton
and a closet to keep it in
and your mine
every song has a you
a you that the singer sings to
and you're it this time
baby, you're it this time

when i need to wipe my face
i use the back of my hand
and i like to take up space
just because i can
and i use my dress
to wipe up my drink
i care less and less
what people think
and you are so lame
you always dissapoint me
it's kind of like our running joke
but it's really not funny
and i just want you to live up to
the image of you i create
i see you and i'm so unsatisfied
i see you and i dialate

so i'll walk the plank
and i'll jump with a smile
if i'm gonna go down
i'm gonna do it with style
and you won't see me surrender
you won't hear me confess
'cuz you've left me with nothing
but i've worked with less
and i learn every room long enough
to make it to the door
and then i hear it click shut behind me
and every key works differently
i forget everytime
and forgetting defines me
that's what defines me

when i say you sucked my brain out
the english translation
is i am in love with you
and it is no fun
but i don't use words like love
'cuz works like that don't matter
but don't look so offended
you know, you should be flattered
and i wake up in the night
in some big hotel bed
and my hands grope for the light
and my hands grope for my head
the world is my oyster
the road is my home
and i know that i'm better
off alone

 

[fox69]

"Dithering"

"Dithering"



So many things to name
So many things to know the name of
So many ways to classify into different and the same of
So many stories to read
Just to be considered up to speed
You got to start when you’re a baby
Around everything goes the frame of

Mama look at this headline
They say we’re getting dumber
They keep doing them tests on stuff
And coming out with new bummers
Remind me to quit my job
Say farewell to it all
Remind me to plant those sunflowers
Along the south wall

Ah ha...

I got a database
Behind my face
Of dithering information
Ask me anything
About anything
I got a lotta shit in rotation
I got a lotta shit in rotation

I got clutter in my closet
Clutter on my bed
Clutter in the office
And clutter in the shed
And I can’t find a thing
In all of this confusion
I can’t think a thought
All the way to its conclusion

Ah ha...

I got a database
Behind my face
Of dithering information
Ask me anything
About anything
I got a lotta shit in rotation
I got a lotta shit in rotation

 

[fox69]

"Dog Coffee"

"Dog Coffee"



perpetrating counter-culture she is walking through the park
first light ugly and more muscular than the dark
pushing poems at the urban silence
drawing portraits of the passers-by
sitting on the curb
combining traffic sounds
getting dirty looks and dirty jeans
on the dirty ground
she says I can't figure out what kind of life this is
comedy or tragedy I just know it's show biz
and what if I don't agree
with the lines I have to read
they don't pay me enough
the way I see it

freedom and democracy
that's the word from washington every day
the americat's asleep
with warm milk and cliches
and people are expendable along the way
your dollar is dependable
what more can we say
would you like some dog coffee
it's all that we've got
you can have some
you can have not
would you like some dog coffee
it's all that we've got
we're taking care of big business
and meanwhile some of the beans rot

 

[fox69]

"Done Wrong"

"Done Wrong"



the wind is ruthless
the trees shake angry fingers at the sky
the people hunch their shoulders
hold their collars over their earsand run by
it's a cold rain
it's a hard rain
like the kind that you find in songs
i guess that makes methe jerk with the heartache
here to sing youabout how i've been done wrong

and i am sitting, watching
out the window of the coffee shop
and i am waiting, waiting
waiting for it to let up
i am rocking like a cradle
warming my hands with the cup in between
i am leaning over the table
holding my face over the steam

and before it gets so cold
that the rain turns to snow
there's just a couple things
i'd like to know

like how could you do nothing
and say, i'm doing my best
how could you take almost everything
and then come back for the rest
how could you beg me to stay,
reach out your hands and plead
and then pack up your eyes and run away
as soon as i agreed

it just all slips
away so slowly
you don't even notice till you've lost a lot
i've been like one of those zombies
in vegas
pouring quarters into a slot
and now i'm tired
and i am broke
and i feel stupid and i feel used
and i'm at the end of my little rope
and i am swinging back and forth
about you

before it gets so cold
that the rain turns to snow
there's just a couple things
i'd like to know

like how could you do nothing
and say, i'm doing my best
how could you take almost everything
and then come back for the rest
how could you beg me to stay,
reach out your hands and plead
and then pack up your eyes and run away
as soon as i agreed

 

[fox69]

"Educated Guess"

"Educated Guess"



Looks like my crazy family
Is down one crazy daughter cuz
I'm shipwrecked in a desert that
Once was underwater just
Looking for a swift turn of phrase
Some colors to fly
As I float by
In the parade

Plus I dream in skin scented sentences
Of a stronger faster fiercer you
And to each noun, verb and predicate
I dedicate a vivid hue
But you ain't done too well
Getting past your permanent pastel
Have you now?
Yes, the desert seemed so promising
And then it paled somehow

So school is in session
Get your chin off your desk
Now pick up your pencil
And turn over your test
Use your education
And take an educated guess
About me

I've got a slot at eye level like
A speakeasy door
And I know you know the password
Cuz I've seen you here before
And I've got something sweet for you
And I don't care if it is more than you deserve
I've got a lot of love and a lot of nerve
So watch me while I take this curve

Yes school is in session
Get your chin off your desk
Now pick up your pencil
And turn over your test
Use your education
And take an educated guess
About me

Plus I have this whole new family
And I'm in love with each of them
And I'm on this list called lucky
Whenever I'm in reach of them
And I'm learning how to say
That I'd be happy either way
With your love

I'm calling on the stars above

School is in session
Get your chin off your desk
Now pick up your pencil
Turn over your test
Use your education
And take an educated guess
About me

 

[fox69]

"Egos Like Hairdos"

"Egos Like Hairdos"



I saw on the poster
my name was printed
just a little bit smaller
I can tell you need to stand
just a little bit taller
no one ever talks about it
but no one can disguise
the cloud of competition
that's hanging behind their eyes
there's more bad blood
in this bar than there is beer
and it's subtle but it still sucks
and I want out of here

we got egos like hairdos
they're different every day
depending on how we slept the night before
depending on the demons that are at our door

they told me you wanted to play last
every profession has its system of castes
so they reverse the order we go on
and then you stand at the bar
and you talk through my songs

we've got egos like hairdos
they're different every day
depending on how we slept the night before
depending on the demons that are at our door

everybody loves the underdog
but no one wants to be him
the press will fatten you up
and then they'll dig their teeth in
it's cool to discover someone
it's hard to support them
everyone is playing life
like it's some stupid sport

we got egos like hairdos
they're different every day
depending on how we slept the night before
depending on the demons that are at our door

I got my kitchen stocked
I got my door unlocked
there're no demons here
and I don't really care
whose name is printed in bigger type
you know I live in a world full of hope
not a world full of hype
I ain't no saint
I help myself to what I need
but I help other people too
y'know I sleep soundly

 

[fox69]

"Emancipated Minor"

"Emancipated Minor"



Emancipated minor
Well directed, brilliantly casted
Riding a Greyhound down to the city
With her fake I.D. and a hell of a little hand basket

Little game of seesaw, then he came to claim her
And then a sordid line formed behind him
Reproductive system newly activated
She participated in nature's plan, she participated

And I can't say I envy her, I don't think I miss it
Wrought iron cobwebbing over thin windowpanes
The city seducing you on tiptoe to kiss it
Don't think twice, just roll the dice, roll the dice

So she attended the dance classes and she learned the little dance
And she tried the high heels but she couldn't bring herself to prance
All the while a faint ticking in the silence between the songs
Just south of her gut two tiny time bombs

And love comes in many forms and for each she would yearn
Hungry as a student, hunger to learn
Every flavor of person, every species of intent
With the body pulsing at the center detent

But all the good graffiti got painted over in time
She watched the last faceless chain replace the last five and dime
And she wondered if the only noble thing
Ain't to just to get a big garden and plant it in the spring

Kiss the city goodbye in some big graceful gesture
And focus on the moon's groove, groove with the moon
Focus on the moon's groove and groove with the moon
Focus on the moon's groove, groove with the moon

And I can't say I envy her, I don't think I miss it
Wrought iron cobwebbing over thin windowpanes
The city seducing you on tiptoe to kiss it
Don't think twice, just roll the dice, roll the dice
Roll the dice, roll the dice