Ani DiFranco (born Angela Maria DiFranco; September 23, 1970) is an America… Read Full Bio ↴Ani DiFranco (born Angela Maria DiFranco; September 23, 1970) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, songwriter, feminist icon and businesswoman from New York state.

Although much of DiFranco's material is autobiographical, it is often also strongly political. Many of her songs are concerned with contemporary social issues such as racism, sexism, sexual abuse, homophobia, reproductive rights, poverty, and war. DiFranco's guitar playing is often characterized by a signature staccato style, rapid finger picking and many alternate tunings. She delivers many of her lines in a speaking style notable for its rhythmic variation. Her lyrics, which often include alliteration, metaphor, word play and a more-or-less gentle irony, have also received praise for their sophistication. She has released 19 solo albums (not including collaborative albums or live albums), all of which were released on her own independent record label, Righteous Babe Records (which she formed in 1989 at the age of 19).

DiFranco has been a critical success for much of her career, though not a commercial one by major label standards, with a career album average of 72 on Metacritic. Living in Clip, DiFranco's 1998 double live album, is the only one to achieve gold record status to date. DiFranco has been praised by the Buffalo News as the "Buffalo's leading lady of rock music".

In Here
Ani DiFranco Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

even when i look right at you
i always just see through
and i always just see new things
to admire about you.

am i what you thought you were getting?
does this love we make-make you proud?
does it look like it did on the menu?

minus, of course, the little dark clouds.

of course, when we signed up for forever...
we had no idea it was in here.
i guess always is all this and then some.
i guess at least that much is clear.

and whenever i look at you
you know i always just see new things

to admire about you...
you

Overall Meaning

In the song In Here, Ani DiFranco sings about the complexity of love and relationships. The first stanza speaks to the idea that no matter how familiar we become with a person, there is always something new to discover and admire about them. The singer admits that even when she looks directly at her partner, she still sees through them and discovers new things each time she looks. This can be interpreted as a sense of wonder and awe at the endless complexities and nuances of love and human relationships.

The second stanza poses a series of questions to the partner, questioning if they are satisfied with the love they have, and if it is what they expected when they entered into the relationship. The singer asks if the love they have matches the image they had in their head when they first started, minus any negative aspects. This speaks to the idea that love is often filled with unexpected challenges and difficulties, yet we still strive for a perfect, idealized version of it.

In the final stanza, the singer reflects on the concept of forever, acknowledging that they had no idea what it truly meant when they entered into their relationship. The idea of forever is often romanticized, but in reality, it is filled with a variety of emotions, experiences, and challenges. Despite this, the singer acknowledges that the beauty of their love is that there is always something new to discover and admire about their partner.

Overall, the song speaks to the complex nature of love and relationships, acknowledging that they are often filled with unexpected challenges and difficulties, yet still filled with wonder, awe, and admiration for the person we love.

Line by Line Meaning

even when i look right at you
Even when I am looking directly at you

i always just see through
I always seem to see through you

and i always just see new things
And I always see new things about you

to admire about you.
That I can admire about you.

am i what you thought you were getting?
Do I match what you were expecting?

does this love we make-make you proud?
Is the love we share something that brings you pride?

does it look like it did on the menu?
Does it resemble what you were hoping for?

minus, of course, the little dark clouds.
Removing any negative aspects that may have come up.

of course, when we signed up for forever...
When we committed to each other for a lifetime...

we had no idea it was in here.
We didn't know what challenges awaited us.

i guess always is all this and then some.
I suppose this is what forever entails, and possibly more.