Violence Out Tonight

So he offers her his coat
In return for her devotion
For he loves her like a boat
That he keeps out on the ocean
He says: “I'll tell you lover
That I don’t need no other’s arms at all”
And as he fixes her a look
All the innocence that she mistook for charm
Dies in the vacuum of his startling deep emotion

There's violence out tonight
There's violence out tonight
There's violence out tonight, tonight
There's violence out tonight

As they step into the dark
Only moonlight hides his treason
And the shadows skip like sharks
Through the gasps of air between them
She says: “becalm your hands boy I thought
Restraint was now your sentiment of choice?”
But as his fingers strike her blouse
All the words that he espoused
Lie deftly scattered on the ground amidst
The buttons he's torn open

There's violence out tonight
There's violence out tonight, tonight
In every room, in every heart
In every moment you discard
There's violence out tonight, tonight

So she stalks the stolid streets debased
A tepid flickering of street-lights wipes the grief
Across her face
Since she wears upon her brow
The ragged gape of alienation
That will follow her around

And like for every victim
It seems the pain will not subtract or even calm
All this protracted by a state
In which the poor conviction rate for rape
Can often leave a woman feeling
More at blame than able

To talk about violence tonight
To talk about violence tonight, tonight
In every moment, every room
In every word that you consume
In every second, every chance
In every twisting of romance
In every momentary embrace
In every movement of your face
Is violence out tonight, tonight

Tell me something I don't know
Tell me something I can be proud of
Tell me something I don't know