Self Evident Lyrics - Ani Difranco

Yes, 

Us people are just poems 

We're ninety percent metaphor 

With a leanness of meaning 

Approaching hyper-distillation 

And once upon a time 

We were moonshine 

Rushing down the throat of a giraffe 

Yes, rushing down the long hallway 

Despite what the p.a. announcement says 

Yes, rushing down the long hall 

Down the long stairs 

In a building so tall 

That it will always be there 

Yes, it's part of a pair 

There on the bow of Noah's ark 

The most prestigious couple 

Just kickin' back parked 

Against a perfectly blue sky 

On a morning beatific 

In its Indian summer breeze 

On the day that America 

Fell to its knees 

After strutting around for a century 

Without saying thank you 

Or please 

And the shock was subsonic 

And the smoke was deafening 

Between the setup and the punch line 

Cause we were all on time for work that day 

We all boarded that plane for to fly 

And then while the fires were raging 

We all climbed up on the window sill 

And then we all held hands 

And jumped into the sky 

And every borough looked up when it heard the first blast 

And then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed 

And the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar 

Looked more like war than anything I've seen so far 

So far 

So far 

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 

And there's a fine silt on every mantle 

From hell's kitchen to Brooklyn 

And the streets are full of stories 

Sudden twists and near misses 

And soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters 

With tales of narrowly averted disasters 

And the whiskey is flowin' 

Like never before 

As all over the country 

Folks just shake their heads 

And pour 

So here's a toast to all the folks that live in Palestine, Afghanistan, 

Iraq, El Salvador 

Here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation 

Under the stone cold gaze of Mt. Rushmore 

Here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors 

Who daily provide women with a choice 

Who stand down a threat the size of Oklahoma City 

Just to listen to a young woman's voice 

Here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now 

Awaiting the executioner's guillotine 

Who are shackled there with dread and can only escape into their heads 

To find peace in the form of a dream, peace in the form of a dream 

Cause take away our PlayStations 

And we are a third world nation 

Under the thumb of some blue blood royal son 

Who stole the oval office and that phony election 

I mean 

It don't take a weatherman 

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 is not a true democracy 

Number three, the media is not fooling me 

Cause I am a poem heeding hyper-distillation 

I've got no room for a lie so verbose 

I'm looking out over my whole human family 

And I'm raising my glass in a toast 

Here's to our last drink of fossil fuels 

May we vow to get off of this sauce 

Shoo away the swarms of commuter planes 

And find that train ticket we lost 

Cause once upon a time the line followed the river 

And peeked into all the backyards 

And the laundry was waving 

The graffiti was teasing us 

From brick walls and bridges 

We were rolling over ridges 

Through valleys 

Under stars 

I dream of touring like Duke Ellington 

In my own railroad car 

I dream of waiting on the tall blond wooden benches 

In a grand station aglow with grace 

And then standing out on the platform 

And feeling the air on my face 

Give back the night its distant whistle 

Give the darkness back its soul 

Give the big oil companies the finger finally 

And relearn how to rock-n-roll 

Yes, the lessons are all around us and the truth is waiting there 

So it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets 

And clear the air 

Get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand 

Of someone else's desert 

Put it back in its pants 

And quit the hypocritical chants of 

Freedom forever 

Cause when one lone phone rang 

In two thousand and one 

At ten after nine 

On nine one one 

Which is the number we all called 

When that lone phone rang right off the wall 

Right off our desk and down the long hall 

Down the long stairs 

In a building so tall 

That the whole world turned 

Just to watch it fall 

And while we're at it 

Remember the first time around? 

The bomb? 

The Ryder truck? 

The parking garage? 

The princess that didn't even feel the pea? 

Remember joking around in our apartment on Avenue D? 

Can you imagine how many paper coffee cups would have to change their design 

Following a fantastical reversal of the New York skyline?! 

It was a joke 

At the time 

And that was just a few years ago 

So let the record show 

That the FBI was all over that case 

That the plot was obvious and in everybody's face 

And scoping that scene 

Religiously 

The CIA 

Or is it KGB? 

Committing countless crimes against humanity 

With this kind of eventuality 

As its excuse 

For abuse after expensive abuse 

And it didn't have a clue 

Look, another window to see through 

Way up here 

On the hundredth and fourth floor 

Look 

Another key 

Another door 

Ten percent literal 

Ninety percent metaphor 

Three thousand some poems disguised as people 

On an almost too perfect day 

Must be more than pawns 

In some asshole's passion play 

So now it's your job 

And it's my job 

To make it that way 

To make sure they didn't die in vain 

Ssh 

Baby listen 

Hear the train?