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Swim Lyrics

you keep telling me i'm beautiful
but i feel a little less so each time
your love is so colorful
it flashes like a neon sign

but i finally drove out where
the sky is dark enough to see stars
and i found i miss no one
just listening to the swishing of distant cars

so i hope i'd never see the ocean again
pushin' and pulling at me as i go deeper and deeper in
til i'm so far from my shore
so far from what i came here for

i'll let you surround me
i'll let you drown me
out with your din
and then i learned how to swim

i was floating above myself
watching her do just what you wanted
poor little friendly ghost
wondering why her whole house feels haunted

i told myself i was strong enough
that i had plenty of blood to give
and each elbow cradled a needle
but less and less i'm finding a way to live

so i hope i never see the ocean again
pushin' and pullin' at me as i go deeper and deeper in
til i'm so far from my shore
so far from what i came here for

i let you surround me
i let you drown me
out with your din
and then i learned how to swim

you keep telling me i'm beautiful
but i feel a little less so each time
your love is so colorful
it flashes like a neon sign

but i finally drove out where
the sky is dark enough to see stars
and i found i miss no one
just listening to the swishing of distant cars
Song Info
Submitted by
aur0ra On Aug 05, 2002
6 Meanings

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Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

Actually "but less and less i'm finding a way to live" should be "but listless and faint ain't no way to live"

Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

this is one of my favorites, I love this song

Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

I love this song to me its about overcoming the hold someone has over you so that before you completely relied on them but now you're happier and you can be with them or yourself.

Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

I think this is connected to "Two Little Girls." There are some familiar themes.

Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

I've always wondered if this is something about how she feels about her fans at concerts. I remember that one dvd she made when there's part of a concert when she basically asks them to stop singing along. I think she felt like they/we demand much of her and try to own her somehow. Which to some extent is true. So this song is making peace with that. Talking about the ocean (have you ever seen a crowded concert from above, everyone dancing, it's like waves in the ocean) pushing and pulling at her (sing <insert favorite song here> Ani!), giving of herself at each show but it's never enough, we would bleed her dry if we could (have you ever not screamed for another encore?)...I was a little offended when I first thought of this interpretation, but realized that a lot of what we love about her is how real she is. And if we were being mobbed by fans, we'd probably also have some defensive thoughts about our own needs.

Cover art for Swim lyrics by Ani DiFranco

This is more about the break up of her band and going solo again. At the same time divorcing her husband who was also producing her recordings.

 
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