Ani DiFranco - Joyful Girl

lyrics:
i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to

everything i do is judged
and they mostly get it wrong
but oh well
'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged
and the woman who lives there can tell
the truth from the stuff that they say
and she looks me in the eye
and says would you prefer the easy way
no, well o.k. then
don't cry

i wonder if everything i do
i do instead
of something i want to do more
the question fills my head
i know there's no grand plan here
this is just the way it goes
when everything else seems unclear
i guess at least i know

i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to

[joeblow]

This whole album is filled with nothing but knockout shots. Most underrated album in human history. Ty Ani

[annalise]

Crying in the basement of my family's new temp home. I didn't know who I was or what I wanted. Listening to you changed me, awakened me. My flesh started writing poetry and digging deep into Soul, at 15💚🐦🌱💚🌿

[jess.elaine]

Ani was such an important part of my formative years. I hadn't listened to her in such a long time, but as soon I heard this song I started crying. I love her and it so much. <3. It's comforting to read other people's experiences, reactions, and interpretations of this song.

[nicholasbest]

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in with the chorus of praise. I heard this song in a gift shop and I swear my heart stopped. I wasn't even paying attention to what they were playing but this song is so hauntingly ephemeral and beautiful, I demanded my full attention. I desperately made my way to the clerk to ask who and what was playing.
My best friend lost her fight with depression this summer and this song came to me a year to the day that she and I went on a cross country trip together. She would have been the first that I shared this song with. In her absence I hear her voice in this song, and I can feel through this music the immense pressure placed on her shoulders that broke her. I adore this song in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fact that it breaks my heart on every listening.
Thank you Ani for your music because Joyful Girl gives me such a deep connection to her, even though this is the first song I feel such a connection with that I don't think she had ever heard in life.

I really don't know what's compelled me to share this, but I've really enjoyed reading everybody's experiences and thoughts on this song I suppose I felt the need to reciprocate.

[happyaua]

"I wonder if everything i do i do instead of something i want to do more" -very greatful for these uplifting lines

[Littlestraincloud]

"My child is fine."
"Ma'am, your child's favourite Ani Difranco song is Joyful Girl."

[larab]

I was 18. I had just gotten out of shower. Head wrapped up in a towel. I listened to this song, truly understanding it in the deepest part of my soul. It was speaking for me. The me that couldn't speak. I stared at my face in the mirror as tears streamed down my face. And as it repeated, so did my thoughts. I remember thinking that by the time I'm as old as I am now, everything will have changed. I'll no longer be unhappy and plagued by the ghosts that haunt me. I remember staring at my face telling myself to remember every feature just as it was so I could remember this moment years later.

It's been 15 years. I remember that moment as if it just happened. I remember every feature of my face and how it has changed. So much has happened, but nothing, no nothing has truly changed. I am older but I am still the girl in the mirror. The joyful girl...

[henrycodm]

One of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard.

[TheCrissyRoss]

Ani got me through so much when I was 19 through my 20’s. Seeing her live, break a guitar string, I was in awe of her. This album will forever be etched in my soul ❤

[elizabethmoore]

Cannot handle how much I love and respect Ani the og QUEEN of indie rock. Bye.

[Garweezy]

Been a fan since '99
Seen her three times live
I ❤Ani DiFranco

[Explodingcorndog]

This was my moms favorite song... i miss her so much.

[OddWeird]

This song is still amazing all these years later. Great album.

[queeples]

I think this is about how she obtains joy. Cultivating a life around the concept of joy is tough. No big high without big low. The very least I can do for someone I love is give them my world. That changes things. Now you have the power to destroy my world. And that hurts. But it's OK cuz true love is about giving that world to someone and being OK with whatever happens

[msalanam]

Love her boldness to say what most wont. Been a fan for about 20 yrs.

[sandypowlik]

a rare other track has affected me so deeply in so far as making me/us feel understood, not alone. The lyrics are perfec: concise, pointed, accurate. So real and raw - gets you through. Like you're sitting on the floor despondent or giving up. The haunting vocal outro slays me every time too. #thankyou, Ani x a million

[danjames]

Baby Girl is off the chain. Thank you. Peace always.

[shortsinportugal]

Can this song really be 20 years old? Wow

[CapysGardenShop]

Sudden faint sounds from this song fill my head

[lishstringer]

i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing 
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to 
because i want to

everything i do is judged
and they mostly get it wrong
but oh well
'cuz the bathroom mirror has not budged
and the woman who lives there can tell
the truth from the stuff that they say
and she looks me in the eye
and says would you prefer the easy way
no, well o.k. then
don't cry

i wonder if everything i do
i do instead 
of something i want to do more
the question fills my head
i know there's no grand plan here
this is just the way it goes
when everything else seems unclear
i guess at least i know

i do it for the joy it brings
because i'm a joyful girl
because the world owes me nothing
and we owe each other the world
i do it because it's the least i can do
i do it because i learned it from you
and i do it just because i want to
because i want to