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Gravel Lyrics

I heard the sound of your bike
As your wheels hit the gravel
Then your engine in the driveway
Cutting off

And I pushed through the screen door
And I stood out on the porch
Thinking:
Fight, fight, fight
At all costs

But instead, I let you in
Just like I've always done
And I sat you down and offered you a beer

And across the kitchen table
I fired several rounds
But you were still sitting there
When the smoke cleared

And you came crawling back
To say that you wanna
Make good in the end
And oh, oh
Let me count the ways
That I abhor you

And you were never a good lay
And you were never a good friend
But, oh, oh, what else can I say?
I adore
You

All I need is my leather
One t-shirt and two socks
I'll keep my hands warm
In your pockets, and you can use
The engine block

And we'll ride out to California
With my arms around your chest
And I'll pretend that this is real
'Cause this is what I like best

And you've been juggling two women
Like a stupid circus clown
Telling us both we are the one
And maybe you can keep me
From ever being happy
But you're not gonna stop me
From having fun

So let's go before I change my mind
I'll leave the luggage of all your lies behind
'Cause I am bigger
Than everything that came before

And you were never very kind
And you let me way down every time
But oh, oh, oh what can I say?
I adore
You

I heard the sound of your bike
As your wheels hit the gravel
Then your engine in the driveway
Cutting off...
Song Info
Submitted by
aur0ra On Dec 05, 2001
22 Meanings

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Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

This song is so good! Just another example of the wide range Ani has with her music. This song is saying yea you're an ass to me and you treat me bad but I can't help but love you... or something like that.

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

i heard this song live in april of 2002 -- it was f***ing amazing. SHE is amazing! i fully agree with the statement: although things aren't perfect and maybe you don't always treat me like a queen, i'm stronger than that and anyway, i'm just out for a little bit of fun!!! such a great song!

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

i heard the song live an hour ago. i love it!

and it describes a relationship i'm in right now. ah, poor poor little abused me. and i take every bit of it too.

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

i love the part about going to california.

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

You were never a good lay you were never a good friend oh, what can I say? I adore you

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

when the smoke cleared and you came crawling back to say that you wanna make good in the end and oh, oh, let me count the ways that i abhor you and you were never a good lay and you were never a good friend but, oh, oh, what else can i say i adore you

thats how im feeling right now and i hate it!!! so much!! thanks ani for putting it all to words

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

In addition to what ahs been mentioned so far, I love the way the percussive guitar gives sound to the verbal imagery. "I heard the sound of your bike as the wheels hit the gravel"

This song has been blasted on many of my roadtrips. Never fails to bring the energy!

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

and i'll pretend that this is real 'cause this is what i like best

That line, o the illusions we'll maintain to keep a "good" relationship.. Hindsight sure is a bizatch though.. I spent 5 years with someone that this song perfectly describes the situation.. I wanted it to work so bad, I was willing to put up with anything.. I guess infidelity (from both of us) should have been a clue that maybe it was not worth that much time, and definitely was not worth the energy.

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

when i first heard this gem i thought "from across the kitchen table i fired several rounds, but you were still sitting there when the smoke cleared" was a metaphor. i thought she was asking rounds of questions, and when the smoke cleared it was just the way of saying that the air had cleared between them. when i realized that she meant she was actually pretending to fire a GUN and the smoke was from the gunsmoke, i was elated! not to sound to violent, but i remembered thinking that it makes the story so much stronger and vivid and much more angier and deeper on so many levels. thats why her songs are so beautiful. ani has the ability to make a simple statement offering us simple truth. at the same time the lyric is so complex and twisted that the ability to read between the lines is so vast that we can all relate.
my words wont say enough.

Cover art for Gravel lyrics by Ani DiFranco

it seems you had it more right the first time...i think she was speaking in metaphor. that she didn't really shoot him, but the verbal assault should have done the same damage.

i'm a guy, so this all applies a little differently to me...i used to think of this song as a description of one of my relationships...my relationship with God. I was kind of like "where the hell have you been" and God was like "look, I can't give you all my time" and so we struggled and he won and I said ok, what-the-hell ever it makes me happy to believe you even if I don't. i know that isn't why she wrote the song..but that's what it meant to me.

 
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