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The Million You Never Made Lyrics
the air comes off the ocean
the city smells fishy
the air is full of fish and mystery
whispering who, what, when
i am warning you i am weightless
and the wind is always shifting
so don't hang anything on me
if you ever want to see it again
i am telling you i'm different than you
think i am
and you can dangle your carrot
but i ain't gonna reach for it
cuz i need both my hands
to play my guitar
and life is a sleazy stranger
who looks vaguely familiar
flirting with a bimbo named disaster
at the end of the bar
and i am telling you that i am different
than you are
at night when you're asleep
self hatred's going to creep in
and try to blame it on the devil
the one who's bed you sleep in
and don't tell me what they did to you
as though you had no choice
tell me, isn't that your picture?
isn't that your voice?
if you don't live what you sing about
your mirror is going to find out
oh yeah
i'd like to go to all the pretty parties
where all the pretty people go
and i ain't really all that pretty
but nobody will know
cuz everybody loves you
when you're a star
and nobody questions
what it takes to go that far
and life is a sleazy stranger
and this is his favorite bar
no i don't prefer obscurity
but i'm an idealistic girl
and i wouldn't work for you
no matter what you paid
and i may not be able
to change the whole fucking world
but i could be the million
that you never made
oh yeah
i could be the million that you never made
i could be the million that you'll never make
you're looking at the million that you'll never make
I think this is addressed to the people that she would never make it on her own label and all the major record labels that have attempted to sign her. This is like telling them that she doesn't want the money, it's about her art. She would undoubtedly be censored greatly on a major record label anyway, and her great mind would no doubt go to waste if people couldn't hear her messages.
This song is absolutely brilliant. Ani displays her DIY ethic (which she will probably never abandon). Who cares if she isn't the biggest, richest, most popular musician in the world. That is not her aim, her aim is to make art the way she wants it-one of the many things I admire about her. And she does a damn good job at making kick ass music
In relating this song most closely to another one from her vast body of work, I'd recommend Napolean-an excellent song with the same theme
I"ve heard some people say this is about Suazanne Vega, who signed a major record deal. This song is so great. It's nice to know some people prefer dignity over wealth.
the amount of emotion in
"and i may not be able to change the whole fucking world but i could be the million that you never made"
is just astounding, she's sure as hell gonna try to change the world, even if its just her little part of it
aemitt: yeah, because Suzanne Vega is all about the wealth and has no dignity. Whatever. Listen to "Songs in Red and Gray" and get back to me on that.
If you're right, and Ani's going after her fellow artists as well as the labels on this one, I would have to think less of her. I don't think she is, though. Got evidence?