"paradigm" by Ani DiFranco

i was born to two immigrants
who knew why they were here
they were happy to pay taxes
for the schools and roads
happy to be here
they took it seriously
the second job of citizenry
my mother went campaigning door to door
and holding to her hand was me

i was just a girl in a room full of women
licking stamps and laughing
i remember the feeling of community brewing
of democracy happening

but i suppose like anybody
i had to teach myself to see
all that stuff that got lost
on its way to church
all that stuff that got lost
on its way to school
all that stuff that got lost
on its way to the house of my family
all that stuff that was not lost on me

teach myself to see each of us
through the lens of forgiveness
like we're stuck with each other (god forbid!)
teach myself to smile and stop and talk 
to a whole other color kid
teach myself to be new in an instant 
like the truth is accessible at any time
teach myself it's never really one or the other
there's a paradox in every paradigm

i was just a girl in a room full of women 
licking stamps and laughing
i remember the feeling of community brewing
of democracy happening

....

Extra lyrics on some bootlegs:

overall chest pocket
was my house key
and a quarter to buy the lunch
got on that big yellow bus
with my sign that said 'Sucker'
and I was off to that day's sucker punch
but there were so many artists that were pulled
into my magnet school
and I remember thinking
that the long-haired lady 
who called herself a poet was particularly cool

yes, someone stood up and gestured
to a forest of options
and I found my path to joy
through those trees
but I had to teach myself to keep coming back
to the view from the field
from right in the middle
on my knees


Ani DiFranco Lyrics brought to you by danah boyd since 1995