The Last to Say

As far back as he cares to remember
He used to see his old man lose the temper
And mama's pretty face would catch it all
On a regular basis the nest would fall
But he was always safe from dad's rage
'Cause mama sacrifice in his place
Two dozen years of the blood, sweet, tears
Avoid the mirror, losing her hair from the fear

She never left him, she stayed inside
He beat her ass up until the day that he died
In fact, the biggest beating was the day that he died
'Cause now it's too late for her to make a new life

She gets to mourn for the touch of a punch
Won't ever admit that she ain't clutching at much
Someday she'll die, it still won't be done
The anger lives on through their son
'Cause he saw, he caught it all
A childhood of watching ma and pa get raw
It's too bad for him, nah that's half the truth
'Cause you back with him now and he's smacking you

What happened to you?
You don't have a clue
Did your mama use to suffer accidents too?
I never knew that you would stand for abuse
I guess I just assumed you'd pack up and move
Think about when you left him last time
Said out loud you'd never forgive his past crime
Sunglasses so dark, scarf around the neck to cover the choke marks
And since you got it just a fire returning
You convinced yourself that he's just a hurt person
You wanna blame that cross he bares
But his pop's not there when he tosses you down stairs

Let me be the last to say, please don't stay
Let me be the last to say, you won't be okay

Please put your shoes on and step into that warm leather
Go get yourself a more better forever
Gotta put it down, you gotta leave it
And don't ever come back again
You gotta mean it
Just tear it all apart and build new
'Cause if you don't kill him he's gonna kill you
You can't hold hands when they make fists
And I ain't the first to say this

But let me be the last to say, please don't stay
Let me be the last to say, you won't be okay

Let me be the last to say, please don't stay