[2002-10-29] downloaded and deHTMLified Ani DiFranco: Imperfectly [?] (c)1992 Righteous Babe Records 1. What If No One's Watching 2. Fixing Her Hair 3. In Or Out 4. Every State Line 5. Circle of Light 6. If It Isn't Her 7. Good, Bad, Ugly 8. I'm No Heroine 9. Coming Up 10. Make Them Apologize 11. The Waiting Song 12. Served Faithfully 13. Imperfectly 1. What If No One's Watching If my life were a movie There would be a sunset And the camera would pan away But the sky is just a little sister Tagging along behind the buildings Trying to imitate their gray The little boys are breaking bottles Against the sidewalk The big boys, too The girls are hanging out at the candy store Pumping quarters into the phone 'Cause they don't want to go home And I think, What if no one's watching What it when we're dead, we are just dead What if it's just us down here What if god ain't looking down What if he's looking up instead If my life were a movie I would light a cigarette And the smoke would curl around my face Everything I do would be interesting I'd play the good guy In every scene But 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 But what What if no one's watching What if when we're dead, we are just dead What if there's no time to lose What if there's things we gotta do Things that need to be said You know I can't apologize For everything I know I mean you don't have to agree with me But once you get me going You better just let me go 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 mean what What if no one's watching What if when we're dead We are just dead What if it's just us down here What if god is just an idea Someone put in your head I mean what What if no one's watching What if no one's watching... 2. Fixing Her Hair She's looking in the mirror She's fixing her hair And I touch my head to feel What isn't there She's humming a melody We learned in grade school She's so happy And I think This is not cool 'Cause I know the guy She's been talking about I have met him before And I think What is this beautiful beautiful woman Settling for? She bends her breath When she talks to him I can see her features begin to blur As she pours herself Into the mold he made for her And for everything he does She has a way to rationalize She says he don't mean what he do She tells me he called To apologize He says he loves her He says he's changing And he can keep her warm And so she sits there like america Suffering through slow reform But she'll never get back the time And the years sneak by One by one She is still playing the martyr I am still praying for revolution And she still doesn't have what she deserves But she wakes up smiling every day She never really expected more That's just not the way we are raised And I say to her, You know, There's plenty of really great men out there But she doesn't hear me She's looking in the mirror She's fixing her hair 3. In Or Out Guess there's something wrong with me Guess I don't fit in No one wants to touch it No one knows where to begin I've got more than one membership To more than one club And I owe my life To the people that I love He looks me up and down Like he knows what time it is Like he's got my number Like he thinks it's his He says, Call me, miss difranco, If there's anything I can do I say, It's mr. difranco to you Some days the line I walk Turns out to be straight Other days the line tends to Deviate I've got no criteria for sex or race I just want to hear your voice I just want to see your face She looks me up and down Like she thinks that I'll mature Like she's got my number Like it belongs to her She says, Call me, ms. difranco If there's anything I can do I say, I've got spots I've got Stripes, too 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 'Cause I came here alone I'm gonna leave by myself I just want to show you The way that I feel And when I get tired You can take the wheel To me what's more important Is the person that I bring Not just getting to the same restaurant And eating the same thing Guess there's something wrong with me Guess I don't fit in No one wants to touch it No one knows where to begin I've more than one membership To more than one club And I owe my life to the people that I love 4. Every State Line I got pulled over in west texas So they could look inside my car He said are you an american citizen I said Yes sir So far They made sure I wasn't smuggling Someone in from mexico Someone willing to settle for america 'Cause there's nowhere else to go And every state line There's a new set of laws And every police man Comes equipped with extended claws There's a thousand shades of white And a thousand shades of black But the same rule always applies Smile pretty, and watch your back I broke down in louisiana And I had to thumb a ride Got in the first car that pulled over You can't be picky in the middle of the night He said Baby, do you like to fool around Baby, do you like to be touched I said Maybe some other time Fuck you very much And every state line There's a new set of laws And every police man Comes equipped with extended claws There's a thousand shades of white And a thousand shades of black But the same rule always applies Smile pretty, and watch your back I'm in the middle of alabama They stare at me where ever I go I don't think they like my haircut I don't think they like my clothes I can't wait to get back to new york city Where at least when I walk down the street Nobody ever hesitates To tell me exactly what they think of me And every state line There's a new set of laws And every police man Comes equipped with extended claws There's a thousand shades of white And a thousand shades of black But the same rule always applies Smile pretty, and watch your back A little town in pennsylvania There was snow on the ground A parked in an empty lot Where there was no one else around But I guess I was taking up too much space As I was trying to get some sleep 'Cause an officer came by anyway And told me I had to leave And every state line There's a new set of laws And every police man Comes equipped with extended claws There's a thousand shades of white And a thousand shades of black But the same rule always applies Smile pretty, and watch your back 5. Circle of Light Standing just outside The circle of light Avoiding the pool cues Watching the game Waiting for you Hanging in the doorway Like smoke Like mistletoe This is where I'll be Whenever you come or go I'm gonna roll you over Gonna peel you back Expose your tender center Watch the juices flow from the crack Gonna peel you out Of your protective shell Or I might have to break right in there And raise some hell I don't have no grand plan For you and me Just nothing is impossible Nothing is unlikely I'm just riding the tide Nothing more And it's bound to take me out some Before it brings me back to shore When you look in the mirror Do you see visions of your past I ain't got time for halfway I ain't got time for halfassed When I look in the mirror I see my days to come And my face is just a trace Of where I'm coming from Just outside the circle of light Is where you've been living Your whole life You've got to jump into the center And launch your attack And then you've got to crawl back In the corners Where it's really black 6. 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 7. Good, Bad, Ugly It was good Good to see you again Good to meet your girlfriend I'll try not to wonder where you are When you go outside to kiss her In the front seat of your car It is good Good to be back home How I missed this time zone Strangers are exciting Their mystery never ends But there's nothing like looking at your own history In the faces of your friends And it's bad To have eyes like neon signs Flashing open open open Open open open open open Open all the time And it's bad That I wrapped you in a fantasy And I carry you with me But lately it seems like everybody's Joined at the hip And I'm still fancy I'm so fancy Fancy free 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 And it's bad That I took that second look I guess I'm an open book You know I didn't really intend To embrace you that long But then again I wasn't the only one Holding on 8. 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 9. Coming Up Our father who art in a penthouse Sits in his 37th floor suite And swivels to gaze down At the city he made me in He allows me to stand and Solicit graffiti until He needs the land I stand on In my darkened threshold Am pawing through my pockets The receipts, the bus schedules The matchbook phone numbers The urgent napkin poems All of which laundering has rendered Pulpy and strange Loose change and a key Ask me Go ahead, ask me if I care I got the answer here I wrote it down somewhere I just gotta find it I just gotta find it Somebody and their spray paint got too close Somebody came on too heavy Now look at me made ugly By the drooling letters I was better off alone Ain't that the way it is They don't know the first thing But you don't know that Until they take the first swing My fingers are red and swollen from the cold I'm getting bold in my old age So go ahead, try the door It doesn't matter anymore I know the weak hearted are strong willed And we are being kept alive Until we're killed He's up there the ice Is clinking in his glass I don't ask  I just empty my pockets and wait It's not fate It's just circumstance I don't fool myself with romance I just live Phone number to phone number Dusting them against my thighs In the warmth of my pockets Which whisper history incessantly Asking me  Where were you I lower my eyes Wishing I could cry more And care less, Yes it's true,  I was trying to love someone again, I was caught caring, Bearing weight But I love this city, this state This country is too large  And whoever's in charge up there Had better take the elevator down And put more than change in our cup Or else we Are coming Up 10. Make Them Apologize My breast is cradled In the curve of my guitar I'm breaking strings And other things Playing hard No I'm not on the rag But I'm not on the run I am matching the big boys One for one And I must admit, I'm having myself some fun Because the music business Is still run by men Like every business And everything But we can sing like a sonofabitch Make them twitch around their eyes Make them apologize He had a mean streak Three miles wide It was a long walk To the other side She tried to get through it Holding on to her smile But he wasn't worth the time it takes To make that mistake He just wasn't worthwhile She's been under command Of the wrong man And she'll give you everything Except the upper hand She was his mother, and his lover, And his wife Now she wants the luxury Of her own life 'Cause the marriage business Is still run by men Like every business And every thing But she can sing like a sonofabitch Make him twitch around his eyes Girl, make him apologize They all want to lead the fight And they know what they know all right But there's so much They don't understand What about the other sex What about the other hand They only know what they've been told And they're well cast But they don't break the mold And good sources are not enough So she calls their bluff Yeah, she calls their bluff 'Cause the revolution business Is still run by men Like every business And everything But we can sing like a sonofabitch Make them twitch around their eyes Until they realize They just don't realize 11. The Waiting Song Your basic average super star Is singing about justice And peace And love And I am glaring at the radio, Swearing Saying that's just what I was afraid of The system gives you just enough To make you think that you see change They will sing you right to sleep And then they'll screw you just the same But I will wait Yes, I will wait for the truth They think I make a big deal about nothing But they still think I'm Kinda cute They joke about the status quo To break the ice Once the ice is broken I hope they all fall through 'Cause this is no joke to me They don't fool me With their acts of sensitivity They too shall pass Just like everyone Who's only here for my ass And I can't wait Oh I can't wait till they get their due Baby I've only got a minute Baby I have to go A minute is all my life Will ever allow Let's grow old And die together Let's do it now Because you'll do all the jobs No one else will do And you'll step aside And you will let me come through You have all my respect I'll leave it here when I go Maybe I never told you, baby Maybe you don't know But maybe if we wait If we wait things will improve Maybe we just wait And things will improve You know, they've got to improve Your basic average superstar Is singing about justice And peace And love And I am glaring at the radio Swearing Saying that's just what I was afraid of The system gives you just enough To make you think that you see change They'll sing you right to sleep And then they'll screw you just the same He says I know you have to go You have gone before We are fighting on two different fronts Of the same war But no matter what else I will do I will wait for you 12. Served Faithfully He caresses every bottle Like it's the first one he's had Saying It ain't love But it ain't bad It's the only reward Bestowed upon me And I have served faithfully I can see he is scarred From doing some hard time But I let alone what is broken 'Cause it isn't mine He strikes out at me When I am within reach Then he reaches for me When I draw the line Sometimes it seems like love Is just a fancy word for compromise You gotta read between the years You gotta write between the lines You gotta try to understand The grandness of the man behind the petty crimes And let him off easy sometimes I have only just met An old old friend We've been walking around holding hands I hope some day he can bend As far as it takes to understand And risk breaking open again 13. Imperfectly I'm okay If you get me at a good angle And you're okay In the right sort of light And we don't look Like pages from a magazine But that's all right That's all right I crashed your pickup truck And then I had to drive it back home I was crying I was so scared Of what you would do Of what you would say But you just started laughing So I started laughing along Saying, it looks a little rough But it runs okay It looks a little rough But it runs good anyway We get a little further from perfection Each year on the road I guess that's what they call character I guess that's just the way it goes Better to be dusty than polished Like some store window mannequin Why don't you touch me where I'm rusty Let me stain your hands When you're pretty as a picture They pound down your door But I've been offered love In two dimensions before And I know that it's not all It's made out to be Let's show them how it's done Let's do it all imperfectly [[eof]]