Ani DiFranco

[fox69]

"Hello Birmingham"

"Hello Birmingham"



hold me down
i am floating away
into the overcast skies
over my home town
on election day

what is it about birmingham?
what is it about buffalo?
did the hate filled wanna build bunkers
in your beautiful red earth
they want to build them
in our shiny white snow

now i've drawn closed the curtain
in this little booth where the truth has no place
to stand
and i am feeling oh so powerless
in this stupid booth with this useless
little lever in my hand
and outside my city is bracing
for the next killing thing
standing by the bridge and praying
for the next doctor
martin
luther
king

it was just one shot
through the kitchen window
it was just two miles from here
if you fly like a crow
a bullet came to visit a doctor
in his one safe place
a bullet ensuring the right to life
whizzed past his kid and his wife
and knocked his glasses
right off of his face

and the blood poured off the pulpit
yeah the blood poured down the picket lines
yeah, the hatred was immediate
and the vengence was divine
so they went and stuffed god
down the barrel of a gun
and after him
they stuffed his only son

hello birmingham
it's buffalo
i heard you had some trouble
down there again
and i'm just calling to let to know
that someone understands

i was once escorted
through the doors of a clinic
by a man in a bulletproof vest
and no bombs went off that day
so i am still here to say
birmingham
i'm wishing you all of my best
oh birmingham
i'm wishing you all of my best
oh birmingham
i'm wishing you all of my best
on this election day

 

[fox69]

"Here For Now"

"Here For Now"



I bet you're wondering if you woke today
just to learn why the caged bird sings
I bet you're wondering if the goddesses are all crazy
or just keeping it interesting
situated slightly outside society
at odds with its odd offerings
I bet you're teetering on the edge of sobriety
just to alleviate a few things

like the fear that you're standing here
because you want to be liked
like you know you need your instrument
but does your instrument need to be mic'd
and you keep imagining that pretty soon
you will just disappear
and thinking that one thing is what saves you from
your fear of being here
here for now, you're here for now, you're here for now

I bet you're looking for the little red 'X'
next to the red arrow and the sign says 'you are here'
I bet you're hoping that your heart will send up the white flag this time
or some sign that the coast is clear
and the moment when your heart jumps in all that's happening
it's like the first time you felt that shock
yes, your heart jumps in all that's happening
and I was right behind the door when you knocked

thinking maybe I'm just standing here
because I want to be liked
yes, I know I need my instrument
but does my instrument need to me mic'd
I keep imagining that pretty soon
I will just disappear
and thinking that one thing is what saves me from
my fear of being here
here for now, I'm here for now, I'm here for now
here for now, I'm here for now, I'm here for now

 

[fox69]

"Hour Follows Hour"

"Hour Follows Hour"



hour follows hour
like water follows water
everything is governed by the rule
of one thing leads to another
you can't really place blame
cuz blame is much to messy
some was bound to get on you
while you were tryin to put it on me
and don't fool yourself
into thinking things are simple
nobody's lying still the stories don't line up
why do you try to hold on
to what you'll never get a hold on
you wouldn't try to put the ocean
in a paper cup
cuz i have had something to prove
as long as i know thers something
that needs improvment
and you know that every time i move
i make a woman's movement
and first you decide
what you've gotta do
then you go out and do it
and maybe the most we can do
then you go out and do it
and maybe the most we can do
is just to see eachother through it
hour follows hour like water in a river
and from one to the next
we don't know what each hour will deliver
we just call it like we see it
call it out loud as we can
and then afterwards we call it all water over the dam
maybe the moral higher ground
ain't as high as it seems
maybe we are both good people
done some bad things
i just hope it was okay
i know it wasn't perfect
i hope in the end we can laugh
and say it was all worth it
cuz i have had something to prove
as long as i know something
that needs improvement
and you know that everytime i move
i make a woman's movement
and first you decide what you've gotta do
then you go out and do it
and maybe the most that we can do
is just to see eachother through it
we make our own gravity to give weight to things
then things fall and they break and gravity sings
we can only hold so much is what i figure
try and keep our eye on the big picture
picture keeps getting bigger
and too much is how i love you
but too well is how i know you
and i've got nothing to prove this time
just something to show you
i guess i just wanted you to see
that it was all worth it to me

 

[fox69]

"How Have You Been"

"How Have You Been"



you could always hear the rub squeaking
of those two tree limbs
'til one day one of them came down
taken down by the wind
but on the one that's still there
you can still see where the bark was
rubbed bare
it's a metaphor if you know what I mean
how have you been?

me and you
and your girlfriend makes three
in the interest of even numbers
I will make myself scarce
I will make myself scarcely me
but I'll be outside your window at night
pull up your shades
leave on your light
I don't want to come in between
I just want to know
how have you been

I leave for a living
music's just something I do
on my way out the door
and I'd do almost anything once
something about you
I think I'd do you more
if I had my way I'd stay here
and watch your hair grow for a while
it makes me smile just to dream of it
how have you been

 

[fox69]

"Hypnotized"

"Hypnotized"



So that's how you found me
Rain falling around me
Lookin down at a worm
With a long way to go
And the traffic was hissing by
And i was homesick
And i was high

I was surrounded by a language
In which i could say only hello
And thank you very much
But you spoke so i could understand
And i drew a treasure map on your hand

And you were no picnic
You were no prize
But you had just enough pathos
To keep me hypnotized
Hypnotized

The map led to an island
In a sea of store-bought dreams
Where soulless singers sang
Over beats built by machines

And lovely girls were hovering
Above my head like gulls
With their long slender necks
And their delicate skulls

And i was no picnic
I was no prize
But i had just enough sweetness
To keep you hypnotized
Hypnotized

So that's how you found me
Rain falling around me
Lookin down at a worm
With a long way to go

 

[fox69]

"I Know This Bar"

"I Know This Bar"



I know this bar
With a jukebox full of medicine
And christmas lights blinking
Around a clouded mirror
Its not that far
From Voelkers Bowling alley
Just go up there and turn right
Its about 3 blocks from here

You'll probably find grace
Her shift starts at happy hour
She's got this sweet face
Easy as tea leaves to read
You gotta know what to look for
You gotta know what's there to find
But I guess you don't really know her
So nevermind

I used to hang out a lot around there
In that part of town
Where all the white kids
still have feathered hair

I know this song
With this one really killer line
I don't remember it exactly
But it slays me everytime
Its on the jukebox there
Number 5403
Go put that song on for me won't you
And make Gracie think of me

 

[fox69]

"I'm No Heroine"

"I'm No Heroine"



you think I wouldn't have him
unless I could have him by the balls
you think I just dish it out
you don't think I take it at all
you think I am stronger
you think I walk taller than the rest
you think I'm usually wearing the pants
just 'cause I rarely wear a dress

well...

when you look at me
you see my purpose,
see my pride
you think I just saddle up my anger
and ride and ride and ride
you think I stand so firm
you think I sit so high on my trusty steed
let me tell you
I'm usually face down on the ground
when there's a stampede

I'm no heroine
at least, not last time I checked
I'm too easy to roll over
I'm too easy to wreck
I just write about
what I should have done
I just sing
what I wish I could say
and hope somewhere
some woman hears my music
and it helps her through her day

'cause some guy designed
these shoes I use to walk around
some big man's business turns a profit
every time I lay my money down
some guy designed the room I'm standing in
another built it with his own tools
who says I like right angles?
these are not my laws
there are not my rules

I'm no heroine
I still answer to the other half of the race
I don't fool myself
like I fool you
I don't have the power
we just don't run this place

 

[fox69]

"Icarus"

"Icarus"



seems like you just
started noticing
how noticably bad things really are
and when you walked past this couple arguing
in a rolled up window
of a parked car
and all of that
gesticulated bitterness
and all of that
muffled yelling hell
its dark just starts wafting at you
like a big fury rat died
inside of that wall kinda smell

breathe like it's rolling like a cold front
thunder is thundering and lightening in tow
and your tiny little life gets
even smaller
as you heed the heaven's mighty show

and I don't mean heaven
like god-like
the animal in me knows very well
nature is our teacher, our leader, and our lover
and god is just another story that we tell

and you're trying not to grasp-not to start grasping
at straws -or sticks- or stones
just learn how to sit inside your sadness
even if you're sitting there alone

it's just like Icarus ascending
never intending to look back
nature's law and your tragic flaw
I find descending
flying into the arms of a Venus flytrap

guzzle till the buzzer stops
guzzle till the buzzer stops
guzzle till the buzzer stops
guzzle till the buzzer stops
guzzle till the buzzer stops

 

[fox69]

"If He Tries Anything"

"If He Tries Anything"



I'm invincible
so are you
we do all the things
they say we can't do
we walk around
in the middle of the night
and if it's too far to walk
we just hitch a ride

we got rings of dirt
around our necks
we talk like auctioneers
and we bounce like checks
we smell like shit
still, when we walk down the street
all the boys line up
to throw themselves at our feet

I say I think he likes you
you say I think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
I'll be watching you
from the wings
I will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

it's a long long road
it's a big big world
we are wise wise women
we are giggling girls
we both carry a smile
to show when we're pleased
we both carry a switchblade
in our sleeves

tell you one thing
I'm gonna make noise when I go down
for ten square blocks
they're gonna know I died
all the goddesses will come up
to the ripped screen door
and say,
what do you want, dear?
and I'll say,
I want inside

I say I think he likes you
you say I think he do too
go and get him girl
before he gets you
I'll be watching you
from the wings
I will come to your rescue
if he tries anything

 

[fox69]

"If It Isn't Her"

"If It Isn't Her"



standing like john wayne
she is full framed
she is center stage
and my imagination is
rattling in its cage
I didn't really notice
when everything else disappeared
but as far as I'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here

she says do I know you
I say well, no, not biblically
but I've been waiting for you come
and talk to me
I have been playing
too many of those boy girl games
she says honey you are safe here
this is a girl girl thing

I told him I loved him
so he thought I'd roll over and play dead
he was god's gift to hypocrisy
with weak knees and a big fat head
she says honey don't tell me
that old story
you are boring me
just tell me do you like me
tell me what you're gonna do
now that you're free

standing like john wayne
she is full framed
she is center stage
and my imagination
is rattling in its cage
I didn't really notice
when everything else disappeared
but as far as I'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here
as far as I'm concerned
if it isn't her
it isn't here