"Both Hands"
Ani DiFranco
circa 1998
Until the annual talent show, I didn't even know that Lisa K. played guitar, but she was more than just marching band piccolo.
She played Ani DiFranco's "Both Hands," and I think that was it. It could have been very good or very bad; I don't remember much except needing to have that song to listen to it over and over and over. Until then, I didn't know music could be like that -- raw and painful and strong.
I bought my first Ani DiFranco CD at the Borders next to Peace A Pizza (ravioli available as a topping, my friend) and Hope's Cookies. Because it was there or whatever the '90s version of FYE was called. I thought Borders was more likely to have it. And they did have it, plus 97 other Ani DiFranco albums.
And I played it and played it and played it (even the spoken word parts). And when Little Plastic Castle came out, I bought it and played it and played it and played it -- along with the other albums I'd bought along the way. I was going to listen to Ani forever and ever and ever.
In college, though, we lost touch a bit. Oh sure, I'd put her on a mix every once in a while, but I didn't hear her every day, and I was certainly skipping the spoken word tracks.
Recently, though, we got reacquainted when I listened to Nick Hornby's Songbook. "You Had Time" might be my "Both Hands" of this decade.
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3 comments:
I feel like that about Tori Amos, except I haven't gotten back into her. And still haven't ever gotten into Ani, though my efforts have been less than half-assed. Quarter-assed, shall we say.
I was into Tori Amos for like a year in college. I got back into her for a day or so after college, when I listened to one of her CDs while on the treadmill.
A day? That sounds about right.
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