Artist: ani difranco
Song: pale purple
Year: 1989
Pale purple nipples, goose pimpled
She shivers shifts from a walk to a trot
Alone in the city infested with faces
Immune to new friendships
Interested in places she's never seen
She says everything is gray here
And nothing is green
The girls from down the street
Sixteen, seventeen years old
You can smell them getting pregnant
You can hear their rock and roll
That's America you have to be tough
Like a glad trash bag the government's an old nag
With a good pedigree but pedigree's don't help you and me
I see the precedent is gray here and nothing is green
Unless something unforeseen happens
I'm surrounded by the haves
They say I can have some too
Just because of what I do
Do they think a lot about those who have not
Or does it just distract them from what they do
Most of us have gray
Except for those who can pay for green
I'm torn, I'm torn, rejecting outfits offered me
Regretting things I've worn
When I was still playing roles to fill holes
In my conception of who I am
You know, now I understand
It's not important to be defined
It's only important to use your time well
Well, time is something nobody can buy
And nobody can sell you
So don't let anybody tell you they have the advantage
Because all the gray people can say every day
Doesn't mean anything if your mind is green
Pale purple nipples, goose pimpled
She shivers shifts from a walk to a trot
Alone in the city infested with faces
Immune to new friendships
Interested in places she's never seen
She says everything is gray here
Otherwise I'd stay here
But I'm looking for green
