Video with 11 notes
Ani Difranco- Swan Dive (from the 2004 Trust DVD)
Swan Dive is one of the definitive songs for Ani Difranco, but that’s unfortunately more due to the legendary “I’m gonna pull out my tampon and start splashing around” lyric that fans gleefully sing along with and which grosses out most non-fans and critics. By reducing the song to just that one line though, the overall beauty of the song is missed. Ani’s acoustic guitar playing is propulsive and highly charged as always (She’s terribly under-rated as a guitarist. What she lacks in terms of solos or technical wizardry is made up for by the fact that she’s one of few musicians in recent years to have achieved a signature distinctive guitar sound), but what makes the song special is that it manages to approach the idea of hope from a fully-informed and non-idealistic viewpoint.
Most songs that center on hoping for something better have unrealistic views or are simply too innocent to resonate after you see more of life and realize, “Hey, maybe shit isn’t gonna work out most of the time. Now what?” In this song though, Ani fully realizes the difficulties of life, she’s “swan div(ing) into shark-infested waters” and knows “that jumping is easy, that falling is fun, up until you hit the sidewalk, shivering and stunned”. Acknowledging all the negative things that could and probably will happen to her is what makes the joy in choosing to take a chance here so compelling.
What’s the point of a life without risks, right? “I don’t care if they eat me alive, I’ve got better things to do than survive.”
hveasey replied to your post: my life would be complete if I could play guitar.
Trust me, it’s not as fun as you think. I worked at playing guitar (w/ professional lessons) for 4 years and it’s hard work that may or may not pay off, depending on if you can sing or write on your own.
Well, Ive tried to teach myself with books and stuff but I didn’t learn much. I do love to write/ sing and it would be awesome to have some music to compliment it. I’m willing to work at it!
If you’re willing to work, it can definitely pay off. I’m just a little bit tone-deaf (although my wonderful instructor never said that to me) so it was a lot of work with very little reward, and I don’t have a decent enough voice to accompany myself which made it frustrating to play at times. What books are you using to teach yourself? I really liked Fretboard Logic by Bill Edwards because it made sense of a lot of theory stuff and helped me understand how to play almost everything with variances of chords and chord structures, so check that out if you’re looking for something to help you move forward, and even if you don’t get much out of it in terms of guitar, it’ll give you some good musical theory knowledge.
