Crime for a Crime
from Not A Pretty Girl by Ani DiFranco
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lyrics
the big day has come
and the bell is sounding
i run my hands thru my hair
one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
the people are trading
crime for crime
everyone needs to see the prisoner
they need to make it even easier
by seeing me as a symbol
and not a human being
that way they can kill me and say
it's not murder it's a metaphor
we are killing off our own failure
and starting clean
i am standing at the gallows
everyone turned my way
and i hear a voice ask me
if i've got any last words to say
i am looking out over
a field of familiar eyes
somewhere in a woman's arms
a baby cries
i say guilt and innocence
are a matter of degree
and what is justice to you
might not be justice to me
i went too far and i'm sorry
i guess now i'm going home
so let he amongst you
cast the first stone
nowadays we have all kinds of
complicated machines
so no one person
ever has to have blood on their hands
we have complex organizations
and if everyone just does their job
no one person ever has to understand
you might be the wrong color
you might just be too poor
justice isn't something
just anyone can afford
you might not pull the trigger
you might be out in the car
and you might get a lethal injection
‘cuz we take metaphors that far
the big day has come
and the bell is sounding
i run my hands thru my hair
one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
the people are trading
crime for crime
the people are trading
crime for crime
people are still trading
crime for crime
and the bell is sounding
i run my hands thru my hair
one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
the people are trading
crime for crime
everyone needs to see the prisoner
they need to make it even easier
by seeing me as a symbol
and not a human being
that way they can kill me and say
it's not murder it's a metaphor
we are killing off our own failure
and starting clean
i am standing at the gallows
everyone turned my way
and i hear a voice ask me
if i've got any last words to say
i am looking out over
a field of familiar eyes
somewhere in a woman's arms
a baby cries
i say guilt and innocence
are a matter of degree
and what is justice to you
might not be justice to me
i went too far and i'm sorry
i guess now i'm going home
so let he amongst you
cast the first stone
nowadays we have all kinds of
complicated machines
so no one person
ever has to have blood on their hands
we have complex organizations
and if everyone just does their job
no one person ever has to understand
you might be the wrong color
you might just be too poor
justice isn't something
just anyone can afford
you might not pull the trigger
you might be out in the car
and you might get a lethal injection
‘cuz we take metaphors that far
the big day has come
and the bell is sounding
i run my hands thru my hair
one last time
outside the prison walls
the town is gathering
the people are trading
crime for crime
the people are trading
crime for crime
people are still trading
crime for crime
credits
from Not A Pretty Girl,
released July 1, 1995
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Ani DiFranco New Orleans, Louisiana
Grammy winner and feminist icon Ani DiFranco began her career as a proponent of the artist-run label, creating her own Righteous Babe Records in 1990. Since then she has released over twenty studio albums and supported a broad range of social causes including racial justice, reproductive rights, gender equality, environmental issues and prison reform. ... more
discography
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May 2024 -
Feb 2024 -
Jun 2023 -
Jun 2023
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