Ani DiFranco
Popular folk-rock singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Because the world owes me nothing
And we owe each other the world.
We have to be able to criticize what we love,
Say what we have to say,
'Cause if you're not trying to make something better,
Then as far as I can tell, you are just in the way.
I still define myself by the places that I've been.
My life may not be something special
But it's never been lived before.
I used to be a superhero.
No one could touch me, not even myself.
You are like a phone booth that I somehow stumbled into,
And now look at me, I am just like everybody else.
Life is a b movie.
It's stupid and it's strange,
A directionless story,
And the dialogue is lame.
But in the he said, she said,
Sometimes there's some poetry,
If you turn your back long enough,
And let it happen naturally.
Girl, next time he wants to know
What your problem is
Next time he wants to know
Where the anger comes from
Just tell him this time the problem's his
Tell him the anger just comes
It just comes.
'Course numb is an old hat, old as my oldest memories.
See that one's my mother, and that one's my father, and that one in the hat, that's me.
It's a skill I'd hoped to abandon, when I got out on the open road,
But any more pent up emotion and I think I'm gonna explode.
I don't always feel lucky, but I'm smart enough to try.
I fight with love, and I laugh with rage.
You've gotta live light enough to see the humor,
And long enough to see some change.
In any marginalized community, whether people identify themselves or not affects us all.
I know there is strength in the differences between us,
And I know there is comfort where we overlap.
I remember now how our bright spring green deepened.
With the years the seasons changed,
And we were lush as the underside of August.
Art is why I get up in the morning; my definition ends there.
You know it doesn't seem fair,
That I'm living for something I can't even define.
And there you are right there, in the mean time.
There's a crowd of people harbored in every person, there are so many roles that we play.
And you've decided to love me for eternity. I'm still deciding who I want to be today"
And their eyes are all asking
Are you in or are you out?
And I think, oh man
What is this about?
Tonight you can't put me
Up on any shelf
Cuz I came here alone
And I'm gonna leave by myself.
I知 going to go ahead and go boldly
Cuz a little bird told me
That jumping is easy
That falling is fun
Right up 奏il you hit the sidewalk
Shivering and stunned.
We discovered we are both pleasantly furious half of the time,
When we're not just toeing the line.
And everything seems to have gone terribly wrong that can.
But one breath at a time is an acceptable plan,
She tells herself.
So I値l walk the plank and I値l jump with a smile.
If I知 gonna go down, I知 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.