Ani DiFranco - Alla This (03.09.2008) Langerado

Ani's anti-war, anti-consumerism, anti-authoritarian rant, driven emphatically home with an intense rhythm section. This is a repost with clean audio, thanks to capnhook and alpine85.

This track is on Ani's Babeville concert DVD and and on her upcoming album Red Letter Year to be released September 2008 from http://www.righteousbabe.com

i will not stand immersed
in this ultra violent curse
i won't let you make a tool of me
i will keep my mind and body free
bye bye minutiae
of the day to day drama,
i'm expanding exponentially
i am consciousness without identity

i am many things
made of everything
but i will not be your bank roll
i won't idle in your drive-thru
i won't watch your electric sideshow
i got way better places to go

i will maintain the truth
i knew naturally as a child
i won't forfeit my creativity
to a world that's all laid out for me
i will look at everything around me
and i will vow to bear in mind
that all of this was just someone's idea
it could just as well be mine

i won't rent you my time
i won't sell you my brain
i won't pray to a male god
cuz that would be insane

and i can't support the troops
cuz every last one of them is being duped
and i will not rest a wink
until the women have regrouped

i am many things,
made of everything,
but i will not be your bank roll
i won't idle in your drive-thru
i won't join your electric sideshow
i got way
better places to go.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ani
• DiFranco
• new
• Langerado
• Alla
• This
• All
• Of
• Way
• Better
• Places
• Bankroll
• antiwar
• Mike
• Dillon
• vibraphone
• Red
• Letter
• Year

[righteousjoy]

i saw her do this song live in Guelph last July. i think it was the first time she played it in Canada, and at the "can't support the troops" line the whole place went crazy. Apparently it was the first time she received that kind of reponse.

[MaxSenn]

I'm curious -- Did the Canadians go "crazy" in agreement with the line, or in opposition?

[horizondreamer]

I laugh every time I hear the intro of this song in the cd version XDD She's the best!!

[MaxSenn]

I thought her long intro to this song on the Hamburg bootleg, with its analogy of troops to secretaries, was spot on. At the Langerado festival (with all its pseudo-hippies and phishhead types), the line "I can't support the troops" still garnered an immediate, visceral, negative response from some of the audience.

[munich64]

She's not a sepratist at all! She's very inspiring to people of all genders. Her refusal to pray to a male god is more an aversion to patriarchy than anything else. We need to recognize that we live in a patriarchal world, and that the one male god model only helps to reinforce this system.

[AntiAnarchrist]

"I will not worship a male god, because that would be insane..." for that line alone red letter year was worth the purchase. thank you for years of great music ani~

[nocleverusernamehere]

who's on drums?

[dfndnola]

we must have been really close to each other for this... What a great festival and Ani is always amazing

[Santarchy]

I love Ani's music, how she keeps redefining it, and I love her politics. When I heard her new song "Alla This" firecrackers started going off. It was so invigorating. Those drums and that bass created the waves that I rode Ani's guitar on. Tonight I tried to find this song on YouTube to share with some friends but became disappointed when every version I found was left hollow missing that incredible drum and bass.

[feelquiet]

Funny story. Maybe the fashion show producer was trying to be ironic....

[nicolerowan]

I actually heard this song for the first time on Fashion TV in Paris. isn't that a total hoot? All these models getting made up and prancing on the catwalk with Ani singing, "i wont let you make a tool of me

i will keep my mind and body free".

Very interesting contrast... and surprising really. Excellent song - of course (bien sur!)