21 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Joyful Girl Lyrics
i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to
everything i do is judged
and they mostly get it wrong
but oh well
'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged
and the woman who lives there can tell
the truth from the stuff that they say
and she looks me in the eye
and says would you prefer the easy way
no, well o.k. then
don't cry
i wonder if everything i do
i do instead
of something i want to do more
the question fills my head
i know there's no grand plan here
this is just the way it goes
when everything else seems unclear
i guess at least i know
i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to
it perfectly sums up the message: do what makes you happy, make mistakes, make decisions no one else would expect or even agree with; as long as you remain true to who you are (the girl in the mirror) you're as good as gold.
Maybe I've got this all wrong, but I think this is about being in some kind of relationship which is mostly based on sex. Throughout the song she tries to defend her behavour by saing "Well, I do for the joy it brings".. But then:
"i wonder if everything i do i do instead of something i want to do more the question fills my head"
But I dunno.. This doesn't really match "and we owe each other the world. i do it because it's the least i can do. i do it because i learned it from you" .. So yea. Not sure about this one at all.
i think its ironic how the songs is about joy but the tempo and melody are haunting, slow and not"full of joy" to me it gets the point across even more clearly . the way she pauses in the phrase "because the world owes me.....nothing" has you holding you breath going "what the world owes her?" but then she softly says "nothing, we owe each other the world" and i'm left feeling incredibly humbled and appreciative.
-a masterpiece
2 Quotes from Ani:
"Men make angry music and it's called rock-and-roll; women include anger in their vocabulary and suddenly they're angry and militant."
"In terms of the way people perceive me, the people who know me and know my work, who come to the shows, I feel pretty understood. But then there's a lot of people outside of that who just form opinions based upon media, without ever coming to a show and seeing what it is that they have an opinion about....People who stereotype me as an angry person come from very far outside of myself and my community…It's funny because, in my experience, the people who bring the most anger, the most rage over injustices, onto the stage, into their work, those are the nicest people. I mean, the people who give a fuck. Honestly, what is said about me in the media is not my greatest concern. That's part of the job; people you don't even know, never ever will know, stating definitively who and what you are, what you are doing and what it means."
It's about seeing the truth of the world, of patriarchy, of how screwed up everything is and how most people don't even realize it. It's about being awake in a sleeping world, and instead of being bitter or letting it destroy you (through self-destruction, mostly), learning to live for yourself regardless of whatever else, while still speaking up and trying to help everyone else.
"'cause the bathroom mirror has not budged And the woman who lives there can tell The truth from the stuff that they say And she looks me in the eye And says would you prefer the easy way No, well o.k. then Don't cry"
Would you prefer the easy way, by which she means, would you prefer ignorance-as-bliss over having a true social consciousness? And, no, of course she wouldn't, so chin up and carry on.
"I know there's no grand plan here This is just the way it goes When everything else seems unclear I guess at least I know"
The world doesn't have to be this way, it doesn't have to be any particular way. It is what it is. God ain't directing a cosmic TV show, and fate ain't guiding the path. And no matter what else, "at least [we] know" that.
My interpretation is that every 'do' here simply stands for 'living'. It's an existential song but I also think she means 'joyful' to be ironic and is questioning her own human condition when looking into the mirror. But also... Every time you think you understand a DiFranco lyric she puts something in that confuses or contradicts your interpretation, which I like :-)
i do it for the joy it brings becuase i'm a joyful girl.
love it love it love it love it.
expresses exactly how i feel.
my theme song.
i love this song, but i really dont know what it means...can i get some help
I love the whole song, but the second verse in particular is just. So. It describes me, I can't believe how much I identify with it.