Admiring Ani DiFranco

I took this picture from a blackboard in Newtown. It is an urban tribute to Ani DiFranco. The words on the board are lyrics from 'back around' on her puddle dive album.

Some of the lyrics from 'back around':

'my lipstick jumped ship/ to a styrofoam cup/ the coffee gone/ the conversation strong/ all i got left to give/ baby is up/ but sentiments like/ shadows grow long/ guess i gotta go'

'i never really/ go anywhere anyway/ i just pass thru/ from time to time/ bye bye baby/ baby bye bye/ maybe i'll see you/ next time i'm in town/ maybe when i'm thru/ falling off the face/ of the earth/ i'll come back around'

In 2003, I went to see Ani DiFranco, The Waifs and Bob Dylan play at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. DiFranco read us a poem called 'self evident'. She had been in New York during '9/11'. Her words were intense:

'on the day that america/ fell to its knees after strutting around for a century/ without saying thank you/ or please'

'so fierce and ingenious/ a poetic specter so far gone/ that every jackass newscaster was struck dumb and stumbling/ over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on/ and i'll tell you what, while we're at it/ you can keep the pentagon/ keep the propaganda/ keep each and every tv/ that's been trying to convince me/ to participate/ in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution/ perpetuate retribution/ even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution/ is still hanging in the air/ and there's ash on our shoes/ and there's ash in our hair'

'can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their/ design/ following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!'

DiFranco challenged us in the audience. Some people liked it, others didn't. It didn't matter. She was honest and raw. To me, it was fabulous.