Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ani DiFranco, "Self Evident"

While I was doing the dishes, listening to podcasts, I had to stop and turn off the water as I heard a chilling poem being read. It was recorded earlier this month at the 92nd Street Y. While the audio link is here [Right-click and select "Save Target As:" or equivalent to download], I discovered the video, below.

There is a strong liberal viewpoint here, so Conservatives be warned. I normally stay away from politics here, but I am posting this not for the political, but for the artistic.

6 comments:

Eric Valentine said...

I want to thank you sincerely for this.

I have never enjoyed a reading before as I did this one, thank you again for sharing. :)

Janice Thomson said...

Came here through Eric's blog. I second him completely - that is the most amazing reading I have heard in years. It touched every one of the senses, the wordplay was magnificent, the imagery spectacular and the theme very moving. Thank you for posting this.

Tattoosday said...

Thank you for the comments.

I'm glad people are enjoying this. I normally listen to podcasts while doing the dishes at the end of the day. This helps the time pass faster. When the audio played on my BilliPod, I had to stop what I was doing and listen again. Great poems make the spine tingle.

Happy New Year!

Leon said...

Bill. Thank you for this post and link. Now if only a few million more folks would listen and, more importantly, think, we might get past the cowboy mentality we have allowed to take over this nation.

virtual nexus said...

Thankyou for posting this. I'm a Brit, but was on an art course in London with a girl who was in college in the next building on 9.11. It has entered our national consciousness as yours.

Spurls said...

I have been a fan of Ani's for over a decade now and I wanted to share with you a recording of the original reading of this piece that she wrote back in 2001. It is not that hard to recall the political climate here in the US immediately following 9-11 and this woman stood in Carnegie Hall and spoke this poem with a passion and fervor that this studio reading cannot BEGIN to capture... Please, take a moment, so to her site and listen to the mp3 that her private label is making available for free... it will give you goose bumps and move you to tears, I promise...

From her site...
Ani DiFranco returned to Carnegie Hall for a sold out appearance a mere seven months after 9/11, a time when airlines and venues were just re-opening their doors. The weight of the stage on this particular occasion is poignant as Ani, a sought out voice for socio-political issues, confronted the heightened emotional state of her audience. Her live rendition of “Serpentine,” an indefinable poem/song, transformed the room with its melancholic realizations, and from this shadowy vortex Ani’s poem “Self Evident,” is recited to an audience of New Yorkers still breathing the dust of their broken skyline. Ani recalls, “I will always remember this performance of ‘Self Evident’ as being one of the most intense moments I have ever experienced on stage.”

Go here to listen to the original track...
http://www.righteousbabe.com/ani/l_self_evident.asp