We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Violence is the Question

from 5 Years on the B​-​Side by Thom Dunn

/

lyrics

Dan went into Walmart with a gun
He wasn't after trouble, wasn't trying to hurt no one
But then some kid cut him off in Aisle 4
So Dan, he drew his gun and blew the kid's brains across the floor
Grabbed himself a Snickers bar, and he walked right out the door

Shayna went to Synagogue that day
Said Shalom to Rabbi, she got a siddur to pray
She heard somebody Heil'ing down the hall
Screaming "Blood and soil" as the bullets hit the wall
They blamed it all on mental health that God had missed her call

But if violence ain't the answer
Then it's the question of our time
Is it right to have a right to take a life?

Deon left his pistol in the car
He didn't have a seatbelt on, but he wasn't going far
The cop who pulled him over had a scare
When Deon tried to tell him there's a weapon over there
They caught it all on camera but the jury didn't care

Violence ain't the answer
But it's the question of our time
Is it right to have a right to take a life?
There's nowhere left to go
So tell me where to draw the line
When the only life that matters here is mine

The one thing that we're told (our hearts are cold)
From all the blood we've sown
Is that it's worth the price of sacrifice
Just to say that we can take care of our own

Gabby and her girls went out real late
She didn't call her man
She knew it was something he would hate
He hit her twice as soon as she got home
Then Gabby saw the gun there on the ground where she was thrown
Now she's in a prison cell — alive, but all alone

Violence ain't the answer
But it's the question of our time
Is it right to have a right to take a life?
There's nowhere left to go
So tell me where to draw the line
I guess you can take a life, as long as it's not mine

credits

from 5 Years on the B​-​Side, track released April 1, 2018
Photo: Bart Everson/Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/editor/19175977349

license

tags

about

Thom Dunn image

Thom Dunn Boston, Massachusetts

Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, & new media artist. He enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD & Emerson College. thomdunn.net ... more

contact / help

Contact Thom Dunn

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

Thom Dunn recommends:

If you like Thom Dunn, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now