Cliche is the Way

I am reliving angsty college student-ism today. Its fun. One of my friends just bought us tickets to see Ani next Friday at the Chicago theater, so I have been celebrating my relationship with her and anticipating the day (so soon!) when we will finally meet. That's right, I'm joining the hundreds of thousands of young women who have felt the intense need to express what Ani means to them -- and in blog format nonetheless. How cliche.

But wait. Why do I feel sheepish loving her music so? She's an incredible guitar player and the lyrics of her songs are just so exactly, precisely, the expression of my feelings in so many different situations, at so many different points in my life. And just because there are tons of other girls out there who listen to Ani and cry about their respective issues -- does that make it cheesy? Am I just another girl whose favorite singer is Ani DiFranco? Lord, its true.

I was talking to my mother on Monday and she had a new concept she was exploring: institutionalization. (Whenever we chat, there is always some key term that anchors our conversation. Last week it was 'synchronicity' and she was counselling me that moments of synchronicity in life are little signs that we are on the right track. We've actually had that conversation before, but its a good one to come back to.) Anyway, she asked if I had been to my church lately and I said I hadn't because I now work on Sundays and I can never make it. The real reason she was asking, though, was because she wanted to point out that churches are 'institutions' of faith, which is paradoxical in a way because faith should be and is an individual's unique set of beliefs -- that the only reason it is 'institutionalized' is so that each individual "doesn't have to reinvent the wheel". In a similar fashion, she pointed out, education (her profession) has been institutionalized to help guide each individual toward a life doing something they enjoy.

Now, of course I am not saying that Ani is a religion (I shouldn't have even gone there, but typing that made me laugh), but she is a sort of institution in her own right. There is no question that she layed the foundation of something extremely powerful, and I have some thoughts on what exactly that is.

For many girls -- of all orientations and all backgrounds -- Ani made possible a world of self-expression that is unabashedly literal. I will never forget an open mic performance at The Point in Bryn Mawr, PA where a girl with recently chopped hair and a giant guitar played a never-ending song recounting every detail of her recent break-up with (if I I recall correctly) the first girl she ever dated. And the fact that this performance was viewed by some of my friends as cliche, only tells of the niche that was so accurately met by Ani's style of literalism.

So, rock on, Ani fans. Embrace that tiny part of you that crumbles into uncontrollable emotion when you hear the perfectly stated lyric to the most moving melody followed by an angry strum. If listening to 'You Had Time' makes you want to tell the world how complex love is, then do it. If hearing 'Your Next Bold Move' turns you into a rock star, I'm all for it. Just because she inspires all kinds of people -- weirdos, intellectuals, and 13-year-olds -- doesn't mean you should be embarrassed about that little piece of your heart that wants to write poems. Go ahead and make us proud!