Hide & Seek Lyrics by Ani Difranco

Hide & Seek

Me and the other kids from the neighborhood
We played out on the street all summer long
Rule was, we had to go home at night when the street lights came on.
We were oblivious to the rest of the world
And we'd hold up the cars in the street
And we'd always play boys against girls, and both sides would cheat.
Strange men would stop their cars at the curb
And say, "Hey, Sweetheart, come here."
I'd go up to the window and they'd have their dick out in their hand
And a sick little sneer.

I'd say, "Here we go again.
Yeah, OK, this time you win."
And I'd feel dirty, I'd feel ashamed
But I wouldn't let it stop my game.

We would play Hide and Go Seek
And territory would be the whole block
Sometimes the older boys, when they'd find you
They wouldn't want to tag you, they'd just wanna "talk."
They'd say "What would you do for a quarter?
Come on, we don't have much time."
Then I'd think for a minute and say,"OK, give me the quarter first..fine."

This time you win
Here we go again
And I would feel dirty and I'd feel ashamed
But I wouldn't let it stop my game.

I remember my first trip alone on the Greyhound bus
A man put his hands on me as soon as night fell
I remember when I was leaving, how excited I was
I remember when I arrived, I didn't feel so well.
I remember a teacher in school that got me so sick, so scared
That I went into the bathroom and threw up in my hair
And I could go on and on, it just gets worse
And I should probably stop.

Girl, next time he wants to know what your problem is
Girl, next time he wants to know where the anger comes from
Just tell him this time the problem's his
Tell him the anger just comes
It just comes.