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".
Red Letter Year
Ani DiFranco Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And danced around the house
Making music with everything that we found
Incantation replaced resolution
And we vowed to allow each perfection
That we could be
And the goddess sent word
That this would be a red letter year
It's just as well we weren't swollen with unfocused dread
We had visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads
Dancing in our heads
First you go under and then you coming up gives you bends
And when you break the surface
And all you see is your friends
So you grab your purple crayon
And flush out the picture behind
And finally the whole world is made of one unbroken line
One unbroken line
And when you wake up sick as a dog
With dull eyes and really bad hair
Standing under a lit sign with the words on air
And the water is rising
It's coming in everywhere
Just remember you are there
You're always, always there.
And representing the white race
A man with a monkey for a face
Is flying over in his helicopter
Whistling dixie and playing dumb
In a town that might put a gun to your throat
Or rip the roof right off your place
There's a mold crawling up the walls
And falling asleep in your lungs
And you and I both know how to drink some
We will always have work in this town
Besides the police are stationed at the bridge
And they're preventing passage to higher ground
So let's pull up some barstools
And get ourselves a ringside seat
For one unnerving moment
They're gonna show the truth on T.V
In the song "Red Letter Year" by Ani DiFranco, the lyrics describe a scene on New Year's Eve where the singer and friends drop mushrooms and make music around the house, rejecting traditional resolutions for incantations and vows to allow themselves to be imperfectly perfect. The goddess sends word that this will be a red letter year, but the singer notes that nobody told them how much change would occur. The lyrics go on to speak about surviving challenges, and how a person can always count on being present in their own life. The song concludes with a commentary on the state of society, with references to a man with a monkey for a face, a town where people may be threatened with guns or mold in their homes, and a scene where the truth will be shown on TV, causing unease.
The song's description of dropping mushrooms and making music is a metaphor for rejecting mainstream culture and embracing oneself. The call to embrace imperfection is a recurring theme in Ani DiFranco's music. The motif of an unbroken line can be seen as a symbol of continuity and interconnectedness. The mention of a lit sign with the words "on air" speaks to the power of media in shaping society's perceptions of reality. The mention of a man with a monkey for a face can be seen as a critique of racism and bigotry.
Line by Line Meaning
New years eve we dropped mushrooms
On New Year's Eve, we took psychedelic mushrooms
And danced around the house
And we danced all around the house
Making music with everything that we found
Using all sorts of things we discovered around the house, we made music
Incantation replaced resolution
Instead of forming new year's resolutions, we replaced it with a sort of spell or incantation
And we vowed to allow each perfection
As a result, we pledged to accept and embrace every element of perfection that we could achieve
That we could be
That we could all be perfect
And the goddess sent word
Later, some divine power or being alerted us
That this would be a red letter year
That this year would be significant or memorable
They didn't mention how much shit was gonna change around here
However, they forgot to point out the extent of significant or disruptive changes in store
It's just as well we weren't swollen with unfocused dread
It's probably for the better that we weren't overcome with generalized and ill-defined anxiety
We had visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads
Instead, we had delightful and optimistic ideas dancing in our minds
First you go under and then you coming up gives you bends
You go down or into a challenging situation, and when you resurface, it causes bends or problems
And when you break the surface
Once you reach the culmination
And all you see is your friends
And you see only your friends around you
So you grab your purple crayon
You take a purple crayon to do something artistic or creative
And flush out the picture behind
And you draw out the overview of what's behind everything
And finally the whole world is made of one unbroken line
Eventually, it becomes clear that the world is a singular and unbroken entity
And when you wake up sick as a dog
When you get up sudden with fever and sickness
With dull eyes and really bad hair
With a mop of untidy hair and tired eyes
Standing under a lit sign with the words on air
Standing under a glowing sign that spells out something on live TV
And the water is rising
As the flood water rises
It's coming in everywhere
Water is flowing from every direction
Just remember you are there
Just don't forget that you are still here
You're always, always there.
You will always exist, ever-present
And representing the white race
A person who represents the white race
A man with a monkey for a face
A person who has a monkey as a face
Is flying over in his helicopter
Is traveling by in a helicopter
Whistling dixie and playing dumb
Acting like they don't know what's going on while making a fuss
In a town that might put a gun to your throat
In a region where you could be under life-threatening circumstances
Or rip the roof right off your place
Or where the roof of your building could be damaged or destroyed
There's a mold crawling up the walls
The walls are covered in mold, which is creeping all over
And falling asleep in your lungs
And even settling into your lungs while you sleep
And you and I both know how to drink some
You and I both are aware of how to drink properly
We will always have work in this town
We will keep working to keep the town stable
Besides the police are stationed at the bridge
Also, the police are present at the bridge
And they're preventing passage to higher ground
And the police are stopping people from moving towards safer areas
So let's pull up some barstools
Let's grab some barstools and take a chance to relax
And get ourselves a ringside seat
And let's get comfortable and wait for whatever may come next
For one unnerving moment
During one extremely troubling moment
They're gonna show the truth on T.V
The truth will be aired for all on TV
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: ANI DIFRANCO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind