Roll With It

I'm not sure what the message is behind this song and it's 5:06AM and i can't be bothered to find out quite frankly! However, i love Ani Difranco, and i do love the song. You don't need to know the meaning to know this is her usual musical genius coming out to play.

shes getting pissed off about people always telling her to "roll with it" meaning to face facts and stop trying to change the world-- she feels that people should be active, take a stand, and try to change things.......

this isn't exactly what the song is about but it makes me think how much this pisses me off: people complain about all their problems whether they're major or petty, but then when I have a problem with something, im looked down upon as being a bitch or trying to make things difficult..im just expected to "roll with it"..since ani is also a feminist, possibly shes saying how women are always accused of being over-dramatic, therefore, they feel as if they have to just roll with it, and hide their disagreeing emotions & thoughts..and i agree with L-E7's point of view on the song as well

This clearly an anti-war song about the ravages of war and how completely pointless she sees it as.

"Packed his uniforms And drove him to the base She was crying all the way"

Military wife suffering the consequences of war: missing her husband, fearing his death in combat.

Then there's reference to the phrase "Roll with it" throughout the song which is just another way of saying "Suck it it. Don't complain. Just take it." Who is saying this? Well, the men in charge who spin propaganda and don't spare any attention to the actual suffering. By their silence they might as well be saying "Roll with it, baby." "Baby" being a key word here as it adds an extra level of head-patting condescension, mostly from adult to child, that indicates a lack of actual seriousness about all of this.

"The mainstream is so polluted with lies" This is obvious. She's saying the news/mass-media is a puppet for government propaganda and is wholly unconcerned with truth.

"Make it your career" (i.e: Join the army.)

"Keep the home fires burning Till America is in the clear" Propoganda. This totally sounds like a tag line that would be printed on one of those army ad posters circa WWll.

"What if the enemy Isn't in a distant land What if the enemy lies behind The voice of command" What if the real threat is not some peoples of a foreign country, but instead the very people who are leading our nation?

"And it's your world That comes crashing down When the big boys decide To throw their weight around" She calls the leaders and officials "big boys" because the people in positions of power all throughout America are and always have been predominantly men. To "throw their weight around" points to the fact that most declarations of war are power plays and created to dominate another land in some way and it is childish.

"Who are going to be killed Aren't those who preside On capitol hill" It's easy to make the executive decisions to send the people of the country to war when you are in congress, insulated from having to do the actual dirty work.

"She says my ass hurts When I sit down" Don't know. Maybe a reference to the rape of women in the military?

"I told him, Don't fill the front lines Of their war Those assholes aren't worth dying for" Ha. She is awesome. I love how, in her performance, she really drew out the word "assholes". "Those ASSHOOOOLES aren't worth dying for"

"I think my body is as restless as my mind And I'm not gonna roll with it this time No, I'm not gonna roll with it this time"

And neither should we.