The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

1996 studio album by Ani DiFranco and Utah Philips

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere is an album by American folk singer Utah Phillips and American singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco, released October 15, 1996, on DiFranco's label, Righteous Babe Records.

On the album, Phillips is recorded telling stories at concerts with DiFranco setting the musical background. DiFranco provides background vocals on the first and last tracks as part of her remixing, but no songs as such.

The record was followed by Fellow Workers, a second collaboration between the two musicians, which focused on songs associated with the Industrial Workers of the World and contained singing as well as spoken-word pieces.

Track listing

All tracks written by Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco.

1. "Bridges" – 8:03
2. "Nevada City, California" – 6:41
3. "Korea" – 8:30
4. "Anarchy" – 6:27
5. "Candidacy" – 1:45
6. "Bum on the Rod" – 4:18
7. "Enormously Wealthy" – 0:43
8. "Mess With People" – 6:44
9. "Natural Resources" – 2:31
10. "Heroes" – 1:07
11. "Half a Ghost Town" – 4:22
12. "Holding On" – 6:13

Personnel

• Ani DiFranco – guitar, bass, percussion, Hammond organ, vocals, thumb piano, production, engineering, sampling, artwork, design, mixing, Wurlitzer
• Utah Phillips – spoken word, vocals, guitar
• Darcie Deaville – fiddle
• Mark Hallman – engineer
• Marty Lester – engineer
• Chris Bellman – mastering
• Blair Woods – photography

References

1. Ankeny, Jason. The Past Didn't Go Anywhere at AllMusic
2. "Entertainment Weekly review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 27, 2009. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
3. Robert Christgau Consumer Guide
4. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City: Simon and Schuster. pp. 236-7. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone ani difranco album guide.