School Night Lyrics by Ani Difranco
Album : Revelling / Reckoning
Clean Lyric
Paragraph Lyric
she went over to his apartment
clutching her decision
and he said, did you come here to tell me goodbye?
so she built a skyscraper of procrastination
and then she leaned out the twenty-fifth floor window
of her reply
and she felt like an actress
just reading her lines
when she finally said
yes. it's really goodbye this time
and far below was the blacktop
and the tiny toy cars
and it all fell so fast
and it all fell so far

and she said:
you are a miracle but that is not all
you are also a stiff drink and i am on call
you are a party and i am a school night
and i'm lookin' for my door key
but you are my porch light

and you'll never know, dear
just how much i loved you
you'll probably think this was
just my big excuse
but i stand committed
to a love that came before you
and the fact that i adore you
is but one of my truths

what of the mother
whose house is in flames
and both of her children
are in their beds crying
and she loves them both
with the whole of her heart
but she knows she can only
carry one at a time?
she's choking on the smoke
of unthinkable choices
she is haunted by the voices
of so many desires
she's bent over from the business
of begging forgiveness
while frantically running around
putting out fires

but then what kind of scale
compares the weight of two beauties
the gravity of duties
or the ground speed of joy?
tell me what kind of gauge
can quantify elation?
what kind of equation
could i possibly employ?
and you'll never know, dear
just how much i loved you
you probably think this was
just my big excuse
but i stand committed
to a love that came before you
and the fact that i adore you
is just one of my truths

so i
i'm goin' home
to please the one i so love pleasing
and i don't expect
he'll have much sympathy for my grieving
but i guess that this is the price
that we pay for the privilege
of living for even a day
in a world with so many things
worth believing
in
she went over to his apartment   clutching her decision   and he said, did you come here to tell me goodbye?   so she built a skyscraper of procrastination   and then she leaned out the twenty-fifth floor window   of her reply   and she felt like an actress   just reading her lines   when she finally said   yes. it's really goodbye this time   and far below was the blacktop   and the tiny toy cars   and it all fell so fast   and it all fell so far      and she said:   you are a miracle but that is not all   you are also a stiff drink and i am on call   you are a party and i am a school night   and i'm lookin' for my door key   but you are my porch light      and you'll never know, dear   just how much i loved you   you'll probably think this was   just my big excuse   but i stand committed   to a love that came before you   and the fact that i adore you   is but one of my truths      what of the mother   whose house is in flames   and both of her children   are in their beds crying   and she loves them both   with the whole of her heart   but she knows she can only   carry one at a time?   she's choking on the smoke   of unthinkable choices   she is haunted by the voices   of so many desires   she's bent over from the business   of begging forgiveness   while frantically running around   putting out fires      but then what kind of scale   compares the weight of two beauties   the gravity of duties   or the ground speed of joy?   tell me what kind of gauge   can quantify elation?   what kind of equation   could i possibly employ?   and you'll never know, dear   just how much i loved you   you probably think this was   just my big excuse   but i stand committed   to a love that came before you   and the fact that i adore you   is just one of my truths      so i   i'm goin' home   to please the one i so love pleasing   and i don't expect   he'll have much sympathy for my grieving   but i guess that this is the price   that we pay for the privilege   of living for even a day   in a world with so many things   worth believing   in