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We Get A Little Further From Perfection Each Year. I Think That's Called Character. I Think That's Just How It Goes.
-Ani DiFranco
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We Get A Little

Ani DiFranco
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We Get A Little Further From Perfection Each Year. I Think That's Called Character. I Think That's Just How It Goes.

Understanding the Quote: "we get a little further from perfection each year. i think that's..."

This quote by Ani DiFranco reflects deeply on the theme of life. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Life, Character, Thinking, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Ani DiFranco interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco is celebrated for insightful thoughts on life and character. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Life
Character
Thinking
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We Get A Little Further From Perfection Each Year. I Think That's Called Character. I Think That's Just How It Goes.
Life
Character
Thinking
I'm Recording Our History Now On The Bedroom Wall, And When We Leave The Landlord Will Come And Paint Over It All.
Wall
Bedroom
Paint
My Country Tis Of Thee, To Take Swings At Each Other On Talk Show Tv.
Country
Swings
Politics
I Used To Be A Superhero; No One Could Touch Me, Not Even Myself. You Are Like A Phone Booth I Somehow Stumbled Into, And Now Look At Me - I Am Just Like Everybody Else.
Fall
Phones
Superhero
Why Do Our Kids Have To Show Us What Gun Control Is All About?
Kids
Gun
Gun Control
I Wonder What You Look Like Under Your T-shirt. I Wonder What You Sound Like When You're Not Wearing Words. I Wonder What We Have When We're Not Pretending.
Sound
Looks
Wonder
There Are So Many Things That We Have To Be Very Concerned About. But I Always Come Back To Feminism. People Look At Me Sideways Now And Are Like, "with Everything Going On, The Destruction Of The Environment, These Endless Wars, This Capitalism That Has A Stranglehold On Our Culture And Our World And You're Talking About Feminism Still?"
War
Talking
Our World
Science Chases Money, And Money Chases Its Tail, And The Best Minds Of My Generation Cannot Make Bail.
Work
Mind
Bail
I'm Aware Enough, I Guess, Of American Labor History.
Enough
Labor
One Of My Rules Is: Never Try To Do Anything. Just Do It.
Motivational
Change
Positivity
I Am Not An Angry Girl, But It Seems I've Got Everyone Fooled. Every Time I Say Something They Find Hard To Hear, They Chalk It Up To My Anger And Not To Their Own Fear. Imagine You're A Girl Just Trying To Finally Come Clean, Knowing Full Well They Prefer You Dirty And Smiling.
Girl
Fear
Dirty
When I Look Around I Think This, This Is Good Enough; And I Laugh At Whatever Life Brings Because When I Look Down, I Just Miss All The Good Stuff And When I Look Up, I Just Trip Over Things.
Thinking
Laughing
Missing
You've Got Your Whole Life To Do Something, And That's Not Very Long. So Why Don't You Give Me A Call When You're Willing To Fight For What You Think Is Real, For What You Think Is Right.
Real
Fighting
Thinking
Why Do You Think I Write These Feminist Songs, To Try And Teach Myself To Respect Myself. You Know, It's Not Because I'm A Hero.
Song
Hero
Writing
I'm A Little Hibernating Animal. Anonymity Is One Of My Favorite Things. I Mean, That's Why I Moved To New York When I Was Like 18, Because There, There Are Just So Many People That There's No One And You're Just Lost. You're Completely Invisible And I Find That Very Liberating.
New York
Mean
Animal
I Use My Dress To Wipe Up My Drink, I Care Less And Less What People Think.
Thinking
Social Taboos
People
At Night When You're Asleep, Self-hatred's Going To Creep In. And You Can Blame It On The Devil, The One Who's Bed You Sleep In.
Sex
Sleep
Night
All The Decent People, Male And Female, Are Feminists. The Only People Who Are Not Feminists Are Those Who Believe That Women Are Inherently Inferior Or Undeserving Of The Respect And Opportunity Afforded Men. Either You Are A Feminist Or You Are A Misogynist. There Is No Box Marked "other."
Believe
Opportunity
Men
I Always Feel I Have To Take A Stand, And There's Always Someone On Hand To Hate Me For Standing There. I Always Feel I Have To Open My Mouth, And Every Time I Do, I Offend Someone, Somewhere.
Hate
Hands
Mouths
I Love All Those Great 'f' Words - Feminism, Folk Music.
Feminism
Folks
Folk Music
While Out In Tv Nation, Under Darkening Skies, The Resistance Is Just Waiting To Be Organized.
Change
Sky
Waiting
We Are Taught To View Pain As An Enemy, Not A Teacher. But Pain Is The Right Hand Of Growth And Transformation. Pain Is In The History Of All Human Wisdom.
Teacher
Pain
Views
I Was Supposed To Be Cool About This, Yeah, I Remember - Cool Was The Plan. Tried To Keep It All Under Wraps, But The Wraps Kept Going Slack. I Keep Turning Round, I Keep Coming Back.
Fall
Remember
Yeah
Well, It's Really Gratifying To Me To Have A Stage And Some Bright Lights And A Microphone. They're Tools And Opportunities, And To Be Able To Just Pull Somebody Up On Stage With Me And Point At Them Is A Great Feeling.
Opportunity
Light
Feelings
And I Try To Draw The Line But It Ends Up Running Down The Middle Of Me Most Of The Time.
Running
Trying
Lines
There's A Certain Window Of Time In The Middle Of The Night Out In Middle America Where There's No Bar Open And Nothing On Tv. If You Don't Want To Do Too Many Drugs, You Have To Start Bodily Mutilation.
Night
America
Drug
We Have A Complete Void Of Progressive Politics In This Country Right Now. The Will Of The People Goes Ignored And Unrealized. I'm Searching For The People That Can Enter The Political System, A Strong Third Party. We Need To Consolidate.
Country
Strong
Party
Too Much Is How I Love You, But Too Well Is How I Know You.
Relationship
Love You
Too Much
Art Is Why I Get Up In The Morning, But My Definition Ends There.
Art
Morning
Definitions
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.
Thinking
Hands
Space
I Mean, Playing Music At Home And Writing And Hanging Out With My Guitar Is Kind Of Medicinal For Me, But When I Bring The Songs To People On Stage, It's Very Joyous.
Song
Writing
Mean
I See A Lot Of Connections Between Folk And Punk Music Just Because They're Both Subcorporate Music - I Mean, Traditionally.
Mean
Connections
Punk
Change The Narrative, Change The Laws.
Law
Narrative
I Basically Get Stereotyped A Lot In Terms Of Being A Girl And Writing 'chick' Music For Teenage Girls Or Something. I Think, If Anything, The Press Kind Of, Because Of My Gender And My Age, Tends To Kind Of Relegate My Work To This Sort Of Special-interest Group. It's Part Of The Cultural Dynamic, I Guess.
Girl
Teenage
Writing
A Lot Of Women These Days, A Lot Of Young Women Don't Want To Call Themselves Feminists. You Have This Cheap, Hideous 'girl Power' Sort Of Fad, Which I Think Is Pretty Benign At Best, But At Worst, I Think It's A Way Of Taking The Politics Out Of Feminism And Making It Some Kind Of Fashion.
Girl
Fashion
Thinking
First Decide What You Got To Do, Then Go Out And Do It. All We Can Do Is To See Each Other Through It.
Life
Firsts
Can Do
Freedom And Democracy, That's The Word From Washington Every Day. Put America To Sleep With Warm Milk And Clichés, And People Are Expendable Along The Way.
Sleep
America
People
Smile Pretty And Watch Your Back
Watches
My Music Doesn't Really Sound Like Punk Music, It's Acoustic. And It Doesn't Really Sound Like Folk Music 'cause I'm Thrashing Too Hard And Emoting A Little Too Much For The Sort Of Introspective, Respectful, Sort-of Folk Genre Thing. I'm Really Into Punk And Folk As Music That Comes Out Of Communities And Is Very Genuine And Very Immediate And Not Commercial.
Community
Sound
Littles
Love Was Always The Goal, And My Point Every Step Of The Way Was That Nothing Is Wrong With Love, No Matter What Flavor It Comes In.
Goal
Flavor
Matter
I Cannot Name This, I Cannot Explain This, And I Really Don't Want To So Just Call Me Shameless.
Philosophy
Names
Want
Any Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.
Tools
Weapons
Ifs
I Am 32 Flavors And Then Some.
Expression
Flavor
I Think The Music Industry, For Instance, Is Such A Huge, Multibazillion-dollar Industry And It's Become Very, Very Savvy. There's A Very Short Grace Period In Which Actual Human Rebellion Or Resistance Can Thrive Before It's Co-opted By These Huge Companies. And All Of Youth Culture Is Packaged And Sold Back To Us At This Furious Rate These Days. I Think It's Part And Parcel To This Corporate Encroachment On Our Lives In General.
Thinking
Grace
Dollars
I Think It Is Very Useful To Know Ourselves, But When We Start Naming And Labeling, That Is Dangerous, That Gets Problematic. It Negates That Things Are Always Changing. Besides, It's Hard To Pin A Label Onto Something That's Always Moving.
Moving
Thinking
Labels
Fate Is Not Just Whose Cooking Smells Good, But Which Way The Wind Blows
Fate
Blow
Wind
I Can Jump Ship And Swim-- That The Ocean Will Hold Me, That There's Got To Be More Than This Boat I'm In.
Ocean
Swim
Ships
[the 'corporate Takeover Of People's Lives'] Also Accounts For A Lot Of Homogenization Of Culture. There Are Fast Food Restaurants Everywhere. Every Place Tastes The Same.
People
Culture
Taste
They Say That The Truth Will Set You Free But Then Again, So Will A Lie... It Depends If You're Trying To Get To The Promised Land Or If You're Just Trying To Get By.
Lying
Truth Will Set You Free
Land
Mostly, I Stay Out Of Social Media Conversations. But Sometimes, They Hunt Me Down And Shoot At Me Anyway!
Media
Down And
Sometimes
They Can Call Me Crazy If I Fail, All The Chance That I Need, Is One-in-a-million And They Can Call Me Brilliant If I Succeed.
Crazy
Needs
Succeed
You've Already Put More Than Enough Energy Into Worry. That's All Women Have Been Allowed To Do, Historically.
Worry
Energy
Enough
People Talk About My Image Like I Come In Two Dimensions, Like Lipstick Is A Sign Of My Declining Mind, Like What I Happen To Be Wearing The Day That Someone Takes My Picture Is My New Statement For All Womankind.
Two
People
Mind
I Sing Sometimes For The War That I Fight, 'cause Every Tool Is A Weapon If You Hold It Right.
War
Fighting
Tools
I Would Rather Have These Things Weigh On My Mind. At The End Of This Tunnel Of Guilt And Shame, There Must Be A Light Of Some Kind.
Philosophy
Tunnels
Light
Before Katrina, You Didn't See Criticism Of The Bush Administration In The Media. Here They Are, Stealing Elections, Enacting Illegal Wars, Huge Crimes Against Humanity And Democracy, And You Didn't Even See Criticism. It Wasn't Until Katrina That People Started To Come Down On Them.
War
Media
People
We Barely Have Time To React In This World, Let Alone Rehearse.
Time
World
This World
God Forbid You Be An Ugly Girl, 'course Too Pretty Is Also Your Doom, 'cause Everyone Harbors A Secret Hatred For The Prettiest Girl In The Room.
Girl
Doom And Gloom
Hatred
I See A Lot Of Young Female Performers Who Do Not Call Themselves Feminist, But Would Certainly Believe In Their Own Right To Self-determination, And Wouldn't Want Anybody To Stop Them From Becoming Themselves. They Just Refuse To Recognize The Relationship Between Their Lives And Those Of Other Women, Or Feel Any Solidarity There.
Determination
Believe
Self
I Really Have Been Enjoying Performing More Lately Than I Have In A Long Time And You Know, It's All About That Sort Of Centered Feeling That I Have Now. You Know, Thanks To, Not Just My Kid, But Her Father Before Her. You Know, I Have A Kind Of A Grounding Through Them That I Really Relish, And I Think Is Also Good For My Work, You Know.
Father
Kids
Thinking
Art May Imitate Life, But Life Imitates Tv.
Life
Art
Inspire
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.
Life
Perfect
Laughing
I Always Try And Stay One Step Ahead Of People, Not Looking Like I Looked Like Last Week, So I Can Be As Anonymous As Possible And Part Of It Is Just For Me. It Is Fun To Just Come Up With New And Bizarre Colors For Each Area Of Your Body And Things Like That, But There Are Some Parts Of It That I Just Keep Wanting To Negate Myself. I Hate Waking Up In The Morning And Recognizing The Woman In The Bathroom Mirror.
Morning
Fun
Hate
We Negotiate With Chaos For Some Sense Of Satisfaction.
Philosophy
Satisfaction
Chaos
Outside Sleep's Open Window, Between The Drops Of Rain, History Is Writing A Recipe Book For Every Earthly Pain.
Pain
Future
Rain
All The Wrong People Have The Power Of Suggestion And The Freedom Of The Press Is Meaningless If Nobody Asks A Question.
People
Suggestions
Freedom Of The Press
Second Wave Feminism Started With Consciousness-raising Groups, Which Sounds "big" But It's Really Just House Parties. Women Getting Together And Saying, "you Feel This Way?! Me Too!" Hanging Out Is Consciousness-raising.
Party
House
Together
What I Like Way Better Than Lgbt In Terms Of Labeling Sexuality Actually Is A Scheme That Comes To Me From My Friend Animal Prufrock Wherein One Is Identified Not By What They Supposedly "are" But Rather By What They Are Into. Which Brings Us To The Terms Hemosexual, Shemosexual, And Mosexual.
Animal
Lgbt
Way
In Order To Keep Anything Cultural, Logical, Or Ideological, You Have To Reinvent The Reality Of It.
Reality
Order
Logical
I Mean, I Think It's Hard Enough To Find Somebody You Can Stand For More Than Ten Minutes, So, Like, You Shouldn't Narrow Your Options.
Mean
Thinking
Like You
You Got To Look Outside- Your Eyes- You Got To Think Outside- Your Brain- You Got To Walk Outside- Your Life- To Where The Neighborhoods Change.
Teacher
Teaching
Eye
I'd Rather Suffer The Consequences Of Truth Than Of Silence.
Silence
Suffering
Consequence
No One's Gonna Sympathize When We Crash, They'll Say You Hit What You Head For, You Get What You Ask.
Politics
Crash
Asks
What Doesn't Bend, Breaks.
Insanity
Break
What Makes You So Lavish That You Can Afford To Spend Every Sober Moment Feeling Angry And Bored?
Bored
Feelings
Unanswered Questions
It Don't Take A Weather Man To Look Around And See The Weather, Jeb Said He'd Deliver Florida Folks And Boy Did He Ever, And We Hold These Truths To Be Self Evident Number One George W Bush Is Not President. Number Two America Isn't A True Democracy. And Number Three The Media Is Not Fooling Me.
Men
Boys
Weather
I Walk Like I'm On A Mission 'cause That's The Way I Groove. I Got More And More To Do And Less And Less To Prove.
Way
Causes
Missions
When I First Started Writing Songs And Being Very Explicit, It Was Hard, But One Of The Main Things People Respond To In My Writing Is That 'just Say It' Attitude Of My Songs. There Really Is Nothing Personal Or Private; It's All Universal, If You Can Just Find The Courage To Be Open About Your Life.
Song
Attitude
Writing
I'll Walk The Plank And I'll Jump With A Smile, Cause If I'm Gonna Go Down I'm Gonna Do It With Style.
Style
Causes
Walks
If You’re Not Angry, Then You’re Just Stupid, You Don’t Care. How Else Can You React When Something’s So Unfair?
Stupid
Care
Unfair
I Am A Work In Progress Dressed In The Fabric Of A World Unfolding Offering Me Intricate Patterns Of Questions Rhythms That Never Come Clean And Strengths That You Still Haven't Seen
Offering
Progress
Fabric
Let's Show Them All How It's Done, Let's Do It All Imperfectly.
Life
Done
Shows
Now I Wonder Who Is Gonna Be President: Tweedle Dumb, Or Tweedle Dumber-- And Who Is Gonna Have The Big Block Buster Box Office This Summer.
Summer
Block
Office
The World Is My Oyster. The Road Is My Home. And I Know That I'm Better Off Alone.
Home
Oysters
World
I Love To Exercise My Creativity In Many Ways But As Each Year Of Specialization Goes By I Feel Further And Further From My Other Creative Selves. I Used To Be Able To See Myself Doing Many Things And Sometimes I Still Long For A Job That Involves Less Pressure And Grappling With People But, As You Say, I Am One Of The Lucky Ones So I Try To Just Focus On Feeling Lucky And Carry On!
Jobs
Creativity
Exercise
Sometimes The Beauty Is Easy. Sometimes You Don't Have To Try At All. Sometimes You Can Hear The Wind Blow In A Handshake. Sometimes There's Poetry Written Right On The Bathroom Wall.
Wall
Blow
Wind
I Just Don't Know Any Other Word Than "feminist" That Describes A Person Who Believes Women Are People.
Believe
People
Feminist
And This Vague Little Smile Is My All Purpose Expression The Meaning Of Which I Will Leave To Your Discretion.
Life
Expression
Purpose
I Like To Be An Inspiration And An Example Of The Idea That You Can Be Independent, And It's No Problem, And You Can Pay Your Rent, And It's Empowering, And It's Great. And That's True, But It Also Takes A Really Long Time, And You Have To Have A Lot Of Patience And A Lot Of Conviction In Why You Want To Remain Independent.
Inspiration
Independent
Ideas
In A Man's World, I Am A Woman By Birth And After 19 Times Around I Have Found - They Will Stop At Nothing Once They Know What You Are Worth.
Men
World
Birth
I Don't Like My Language Watered Down, I Don't Like My Edges Rounded Off.
Music
Language
Edges
We Are 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.
Girl
Wise
Evil
Maybe You Don't Like Your Job, Maybe You Didn't Get Enough Sleep, Well Nobody Likes Their Job, Nobody Got Enough Sleep. Maybe You Just Had The Worst Day Of Your Life, But You Know, There's No Escape, There's No Excuse, So Just Suck Up And Be Nice.
Jobs
Nice
Sleep
Pop Stardom Is Not Very Compelling. I'm Much More Interested In A Relationship Between Performer And Audience That Is Of Equals. I Came Up Through Folk Music, And There's No Pomp And Circumstance To The Performance. There's No, Like, 'i'll Be The Rock Star, You Be The Adulating Fan.'
Stars
Rocks
Fans
I Know My Mind Is Made Of Matter But I Need To Know Exactly What Is The Matter At It's Core? Because My Heart Is Just A Muscle And Simply Put, It's Sore.
Heart
Sadness
Mind
I Feel Like We Need To Understand Feminism More As A Tool To Mediate, Counteract, To Ultimately Defeat Patriarchy And Restore Balance To Our Government, Our Culture And Our Ways Of Thinking And Structuring The World. I Think We've Had A Very "masculine" Sensibility For A Long Time, And I Think We Need To Go Back To The Roots Of Social Imbalance. I Think We Have To Try To Right That First, And From There And All These More Pressing Issues Will Follow.
Thinking
Long
Balance
I Try To Laugh At Whatever Life Brings.
Laughing
Trying
But As Bad As I Am, I'm Proud Of The Fact That I'm Worse Than I Seem
Proud
Facts
Seems
You Broke Me Bodily. The Heart Ain't The Half Of It, And I'll Never Learn To Laugh At It In My Good Natured Way. In Fact, I'm Laughing Less In General, But I Learned A Lot At My Own Funeral. And I Knew You'd Be The Death Of Me, So I Guess That's The Price I Pay.
Death
Heart
Laughing
Women Who Don't Control Their Own Reproductive Rights Are Not Free.
Rights
Reproductive Rights
I Am Writing Graffiti On Your Body. I Am Drawing The Story Of How Hard We Tried.
Writing
Drawing
Graffiti
I've Been Saying The Occupy Movement Has Got The Ball Rolling, And Now We Need To Take The Fight To The Great Indoors!
Fighting
Rolling
Occupy Movement
I Don't Take Good Pictures 'cause I Have The Kind Of Beauty That Moves.
Beauty
Moving
Causes
There Are So Many Things That We Have To Be Very Concerned About. But I Always Come Back To Feminism.
Feminism
Concerned
Some People Wear Their Heart Up On Their Sleeve. I Wear Mine Underneath My Right Pant Leg, Strapped To My Boot.
Heart
People
Boots
There's A Crowd Of People Harbored In Each Person There Are So Many Roles That We Play.
Play
People
Roles
I Don't Know If There Are Artists Out There Who Love Their Own Records. I Haven't Met Any, And I'm Kind Of Extreme In The Other Direction, But Therein Lies The Impetus To Keep Working And Keep Making New Songs And New Records.
Song
Lying
Artist
I Am A Work In Progress Dressed In The Fabric Of A World Unfolding.
Expression
Progress
Fabric
Promiscuity Does Not Scare Me As Long As She Is Savvy And Self Possessed When Puberty Comes To Call. My Aim Is To Simply Raise My Daughter To Be Secure In Her Self Worth And Capable Of Happiness All On Her Own.
Daughter
Self Worth
Long
Lying In Bed, You Know, You Don't Seem So Tall.
Sex
Lying
Bed
We Need A Radically Truthful Way To Acknowledge Reproductive Freedom.
Needs
Way
Truthful
I Knew Naturally As A Child Not To Forfeit My Creativity To A World That's All Laid Out For Me. I'll Look At Everything Around Me And Vow To Keep In Mind That Alla This Is Just Someone's Idea. It Could Have Just As Well Been Mine.
Children
Creativity
Ideas
And I Was Shocked, To See The Mistakes Of Each Generation, Will Just Fade Like A Radio Station, If You Drive Out Of Range...
Mistake
Generations
Radio
I Do It For The Joy It Brings Because I'm A Joyful Girl Because The World Owes Me Nothing And We Owe Each Other The World
Inspirational
Girl
Joy
A Lesson Must Be Lived In Order To Be Learned And The Clarity To See And Stop This Now That Is What I've Earned
Order
Lessons
Clarity
Time Is Not A Thing That's Ours To Lose.
Loses
It's Just Hard To Travel In The Shadow Of Regret. In Fact, It's So Hard That I Actually Haven't Left Yet.
Regret
Sadness
Shadow
I Hate It When People Don't Recognize The Work Of Women As Being Universal, Or Having Any Import To The World At Large, As Opposed To Men's Work, Which Is Generally Tends To Be Seen As More Universal - Men's Writing About Their Own Experience Tends To Be Put In A Broader Context.
Hate
Writing
Men
I Don't Always Feel Lucky, But I'm Smart Enough To Try.
Smart
Trying
Lucky
There Isn't Much I Have To Say, That I Wouldn't Rather Just Shut Up And Do.
Shut Up
Spring Is Super In The Supermarkets And The Strawberries Prance And Glow Never Mind That They're All Kinda Tart And Tasteless As Strawberries Go Meanwhile Wild Things Are Not For Sale Anymore Than They Are For Show So I'll Be Outside, In Love With The Kind Of Beauty It Takes More Than Eyes To Know
Spring
Eye
Mind
For Me, The Stronger Ground I Have In My Personal Life, Then The More Will I Have To Fight The Good Fight.
Fighting
Stronger
Fight The Good Fight
To Split Yourself In Two Is Just The Most Radical Thing You Can Do
Two
Splits
Radical
When I Was Four Years Old They Tried To Test My Iq, They Showed Me This Picture Of Three Oranges And A Pear. They Asked Me Which One Is Different And Does Not Belong; They Taught Me Different Was Wrong.
Years
Orange
Individuality
Up Up Up Up Up Up Points The Spire Of The Steeple But God's Work Isn't Done By God It's Done By People
People
Done
Steeples
I Think I'm A Very Solitary Person. To Actually Not Be Anonymous Is A Bit Claustrophobic For Me.
Thinking
Solitary
Persons
My Writing Just Kind Of Exists Out There In The Air-it's All Sort Of Intended As Spoken, Or Sung, Word. So, To Commit Them To The Page...that Way Was Kind Of Intimidating To Me, Yet Intriguing, To Try To Reflect The Rhythms And Connotations And Emotions That You Can Deliver, Speaking-wise, On A Page.
Wise
Writing
Air
Life Is A Sleazy Stranger, Who Looks Vaguely Familiar; Flirting With A Bimbo Named Disaster At The End Of The Bar.
Happy Life
Flirting
Looks
My Mother Was A Feminist, And She Gave Me Some Tools Of Self-possession And Self-empowerment, But Now That I Have Lived Here For Forty-three Years, It's, Like, Whoa, There Is Just So Much More To Do, Other Than Become Myself. I'm Still Talking About It. I Still Drop The P-word, "patriarchy," On Unsuspecting People In Everyday Conversations.
Mother
Self
Talking
My Life May Not Be Something Special But It's Never Been Lived Before.
Special
May
Something Special
I Was Attracted To A Lot Of Different Art Forms - Dancing, Painting. But There's Something About Music That People Hold So Close. It's Such A Powerful Art Form, And That's Why I Live For It.
Art
Powerful
People
Someday You're Going To Get Hungry And Eat Most Of The Words You Just Said.
Expression
Someday
Hungry
I Am Not A Pretty Girl. I Don't Want To Be A Pretty Girl. No, I Want To Be More Than A Pretty Girl.
Girl
Pretty Girl
Want
I'd Rather Be Able To Face Myself In The Bathroom Mirror Than Be Rich And Famous.
Mirrors
Self Love
Able
Words Are Hotter Than Flames. Words Are Wetter Than Water.
Art
Media
Flames
Patriarchy Is Like The Elephant In The Room That We Don't Talk About, But How Could It Not Affect The Planet Radically When It's The Superstructure Of Human Society?
Elephants
Rooms
Planets
Self-preservation Is A Full-time Occupation.
Self
Occupation
Self Preservation
Some People's Minds We're Not Going To Change. But If We Can't, We Need To Bring More Positive Voices Into The Discussion.
Voice
People
Mind
Art Is Why I Get Up In The Morning But My Definition Ends There. You Know I Don't Think Its Fair That I'm Living For Something I Can't Even Define.
Art
Morning
Thinking
I Seriously Hate Pop Music And All Things Super-commercial.
Hate
Pops
Pop Music
We Are Wise, Wise Women. We Are Giggling Girls.
Girl
Wise
Wise Women
And God Help You If You Are An Ugly Girl Course Too Pretty Is Also Your Doom Cause Everyone Harbors A Secret Hatred For The Prettiest Girl In The Room And God Help You If You Are A Pheonix And You Dare To Rise Up From The Ash A Thousand Eyes Will Smolder With Jealousy While You Are Just Flying Back
Girl
Eye
Hatred
I Fight With Love And I Laugh With Rage....you Gotta Live Light Enough To See The Humor, And Long Enough To See Some Change.
Love
Life
Fighting
Life Is A B Movie: It's Stupid And It's Strange, It's A Directionless Story, 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.
Movie
Stupid
Long
When Everything Else Seems Unclear, At Least I'll Know I Do It For The Joy It Brings.
Life
Joy
Knows
Either You Are A Feminist Or You Are A Sexist/misogynist. There Is No Box Marked 'other'.
Feminist
Sexist
Boxes
There Is No Alternative. A Democrat Is A Republican Is A Big Businessman, And We're All Consumers Instead Of Citizens. It Just Manifests In The Culture, In The Music, In The Art. I Feel A Little Panicky About It.
Art
Culture
Alternatives
I Think When A Society Has Such A Profoundly Dark And Awful Evil Such As Slavery In Its History, Then It Leaves Scars That Are Very, Very Deep. And Unless We Collectively Address Them And Really Put Our Effort To Healing Them, They'll Perpetuate. The United States Of America Are Still Suffering From The Echoes Of Slavery. I Think We're Still Reeling From All The Pain That Is A Result Of It, And That's A Reality.
Pain
Healing
Dark
What I Like About Being Independent [in The Music Industry] Is That Anybody Who Does Play The Album On The Radio And Anybody Who Does Choose To Write In The Media Does So Because They Want To, Because They Like It Or Because They Find Something Interesting There, Not Because They Have To.
Writing
Independent
Media
Vulnerability Is Something That I Negotiate Every Day.
Vulnerability
Maybe We Are Both Good People Who've Done Some Bad Things.
Philosophy
People
Done
Some People Wear Their Smile Like A Disguise. Those People Who Smile A Lot, Watch Their Eyes. I Know 'cause I'm Like That A Lot. You Think Everything's Ok, And It Is . . . 'till It's Not.
Smile
Eye
Thinking
Emptiness Has Its Solace In That There's Nothing Left To Take.
Sadness
Emptiness
Solace
It Can Be Very Frustrating And Very Deflating To Be Constantly Defined And Described By Other People, So I've Stopped Reading Anything Written About Me, And I Find It Much Healthier. I Just Sort Of Concentrate On What I Do And Don't Worry Too Much About That.
Reading
People
Worry
My Feminism Has Evolved Way Beyond Self-empowerment And I See Feminism As A Path To Peace On Earth. The Fundamental Imbalance That Is Behind All Of The Other Social Diseases Is Patriarchy. I Do Believe. As Men And Women, Together, I Really Long To Feel My Society Evolve Its Understanding Since We're One Of The Leaders In The F-word. I Want Us To Grow Our Idea Of Feminism Collectively And Get Both Men And Women Involved In Undoing Patriarchy. It's Huge. It's A Huge Job.
Jobs
Believe
Men
I Know There Is Strength In The Differences Between Us. I Know There Is Comfort Where We Overlap.
Strength
Individual Differences
Diversity
For Every Hand Extended Another Lies In Wait. Keep Your Eye On That One Girl...anticipate.
Girl
Lying
Eye
Men Make Angry Music And It's Called Rock-and-roll; Women Include Anger In Their Vocabulary And Suddenly They're Angry And Militant.
Inspirational
Motivational
Anger
It Seems That Different People Have An Idea Of What I Am, And What I Should Be. And Then There's Me.
Ideas
People
Different
I'm Sounding Out The Silence, Avoiding All The Words.
Expression
Silence
Avoiding
These Days, I Find I'm Applying A Little More Patience To My Process. If I Look Back On My Work, I Can See Those Songs I Bailed On Could Have Been Better, That Had Those Great Two Verses And Then I Kind Of Coasted From There. These Days, If A Song Is Giving Me Trouble, I Put It Aside And Pick It Up Later, And Keep Doing That, For A Year If I Have To, Until It Takes Shape.
Song
Writing
Years
...words Are Some Of The Most Powerful And Important Things I Know....language Is The Tool Of Love And The Weapon Of Hatred. It's The Bright Red Warning Flag Of Danger--and The Stone Foundation Of Diplomacy And Peace.
Powerful
Hatred
Important
I Want Somebody Who Sees The Pointlessness And Still Keeps Their Purpose In Mind; I Want Somebody Who Has A Tortured Soul ...some Of The Time
Soul
Mind
Purpose
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.
Way
Murder
Metaphor
I Was Blessed With A Birth And A Death, And I Guess I Just Want Some Say In Between.
Blessed
Want
Birth
I Never Try To Imagine The Future. I Kinda Think It's A Waste Of Time. I Live In The Now.
Thinking
Trying
Waste
And If There's Anything I Do It's Change And Grow. I'm Just A Living Being. Every Year Of My Life I Seem To Learn That Everything I Know Is Wrong.
Years
Grows
Knows
One Thing That Barack Obama Promised, One Thing That We All Know We Must Do Is Evolve Our Industry And Our Technology To Being Green And Sustainable. We Need To Move Away From Fossil Fuels And Nuclear Power, Both Of Which I Think Spell Doom For Human Society.
Moving
Technology
Thinking
Patriarchy Is A Fundamental Imbalance Underlying Society And It's One We Rarely Address Because It's So Universal. But As I Get Older, I See That Peace Is A Product Of Balance.
Balance
Fundamentals
Addresses
We've Got Ego's Like Hairdos.
Ego
Hairdos
Explanation
I Don't Need Anyone To Hold Me, I Can Hold My Own.
Inspirational
Needs
Hold Me
My Main Tactic Is To Focus On The People I Respect. The People I Think Are Great People. Do I Have Their Respect? Do I Have Their Support? If The Answer Is "yes," Then I'm Doing Ok.
Thinking
People
Focus
Subtract Out The Impact And The Fall Is All You Get. So Here's Two Beers To Remember Why And Three More To Forget.
Fall
Beer
Two
These Days I Keep A Journal, So I'm Constantly Sketching Down My Thoughts, Or Lines That Come To Me...ideas For Songs. And Then When I Have A Moment To Myself, I'll Sit Down With My Guitar And Open My Journal, And Start Kind Of Massaging Things Together, And See If A Song Takes Shape. Or Sometimes, I'll Just Be Hanging Out With My Guitar And Come Up With A Chord Progression Or A Lick, And That'll Sort Of Sit Around For A While Waiting To Marry Itself To Some Words. So It's Sort Of Haphazard And It's Like...junk Culture. I Go Around Finding Shiny Objects And I Glue Them Together Laughs.
Song
Writing
Guitar
I'm Home In New Orleans!
Home
New Orleans
When I Look Down, I Miss All The Good Stuff And When I Look Up, I Just Trip Over Things.
Missing
Looks
Stuff
I Noticed With Older Songs That I Perform That I'm Coming From A Different Place With Them Now...it Mutates The Vibe And Even The Meaning Of The Same Words When You Have A Different Spirit, If The Person Singing Is Different. I Like That, To Be Able To Sing An Emotionally Wrought Song From A More Centered Place, Or To Sing An Eager, Youthful Song From A More Experienced Place. It Kind Of Colors The Songs Differently, And It Keeps Them Fresh.
Song
Writing
Color
My Idea Of Feminism Is Self-determination, And It's Very Open-ended: Every Woman Has The Right To Become Herself, And Do Whatever She Needs To Do.
Inspiring
Determination
Self
I've Been Trying To Learn How To Not Be So Conflicted About Things Like My Own Anger. I've Always Had A Place In My Music For My Anger As A Way Of Compensating For Not Having A Mechanism To Express It In My Everyday Life. So I've Been Trying To Be More True To Myself, And That Helps Me To Chill Out A Little Bit. But Politically, Uh-uh. No.
Anger
Everyday
Trying
If You Don't Live What You Sing About, Your Mirror Is Gonna Fade.
Mirrors
Fades
Ifs
A Little Bird Told Me That Jumping Is Easy And The Falling Is Fun, Right Up Until You Hit Sidewalk Shivering And Stunned.
Fun
Fall
Animal
I Have Earned My Disillusionment.
Philosophy
Disillusionment
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?
Running
Eye
Hands
Maybe You Can Keep Me From Never Being Happy, But You're Not Going To Stop Me From Having Fun!
Fun
Having Fun
I've Been A Long Time Coming, And I'll Be A Long Time Gone. You've Got Your Whole Life To Do Something, And That's Not Very Long.
Long
Gone
Whole Life
I'm An Atheist How Unfortunate It Is To Assign Responsibility To The Higher Up For Justice Amongst People.
Atheist
Responsibility
People
I Can't Wait To Get Back To New York City Where At Least When I Walk Down The Streat, No One Ever Hesitates To Tell Me Exactly What They Think Of Me.
New York
Thinking
Cities
It's The Ground That We Walk On, It's Where We Sit, It's The Language That We Use. It's A Difficult Undertaking, But I Think Without Healing That And Creating More Of A Balance Between The Sexes, We Will Never Have Balance Globally. I Feel Like I Am Going Deeper And Deeper Into This Space Where I Came From That I Barely Understood.
Sex
Healing
Thinking
I Think If We Can't Use The Word Feminist, If It's Some Kind Of Taboo Or Dirty Word, Or Means You're Ugly, Or You're Angry, Or You're Not Dateable [laughs], Then You've Just Reduced The Language By A Whole Concept.
Dirty
Mean
Thinking
I Will Not Be Afraid To Let My Talent Shine.
Shining
Talent
When All You Can Think Of Is Your Own Personal Problems, You Have Nothing To Give To Your Society. If You're Trying To Figure Out Where Your Next Meal Is Coming From, You Can't Go March On Washington.
Thinking
March On Washington
Giving
Every Time I Say Something They Find Hard To Hear, They Chalk It Up To My Anger, And Never To Their Own Fear.
Heartless
Survivor
Chalk
Being A Parent Has Taught Me A Lot Of Things Already, You Know, Though It's Only Been A Year And Half, And Has Made Me Address Parts Of Myself That I Would Otherwise Live In Comfortable Denial Of, Or You Know And - You Know, For Instance, My Self-loathing.
Self
Years
Parent
I Speak Without Reservation, From What I Know And Who I Am. I Do So With The Understanding That All People Should Have The Right To Offer Their Voices To The Chorus Whether The Result Is Harmony Or Dissonance. The Worldsong Is A Colorless Dirge Without The Differences That Distinguish Us, And It Is That Difference Which Should Be Celebrated Not Condemned.
Who I Am
Should Have
Voice
The Scary Truth Is, You Have To Scratch Some Veneer Off To Gauge Where The Moral Fiber Really Is In Certain Pockets Of Society. It's Raw. It's Scary. But It Gives Us A Place To Work With.
Moral Fiber
Giving
Scary
Having More Exposure Is Kind Of A Bittersweet Thing For Me, Honestly, Because It's Nice To Have A Little More Job Security In Life Now.
Jobs
Nice
Littles
Imagine You're A Girl, Just Trying To Finally Come Clean, Knowing Full Well They'd Prefer You Were Dirty And Smiling.
Girl
Dirty
Knowing
The Minute My Child Was Born, I Was Reborn As A Feminist. It's So Incredible What Women Can Do... Birthing Naturally, As Most Women Do Around The Globe, Is A Superhuman Act. You Leave Behind The Comforts Of Being Human And Plunge Back Into Being An Animal.
Children
Animal
Feminist
What We All Have To Admit To Is That One Man Cannot Save Us. Unless We Start Energizing Ourselves, All Standing Behind Him With All Of The Force Of Our Collective Power Then We Can't Expect Mountains To Be Moved. And That Is Not Exactly Happening, We Are A Very Comfortable Population.
Men
Mountain
Population
I Know Men Are Delicate Origami Creatures Who Need Women To Unfold Them, Hold Them When They Cry. But I Am Tired Of Being Your Savior And I Am Tired Of Telling You Why.
Tired
Sadness
Men
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