10,000 Maniacs: "What's the Matter Here"

_____


performed by 10,000 Maniacs:
        Natalie Merchant, vocals
        Robert Buck, guitars, mandolin, pedal steel guitar
        Steve Gustafson, bass
        Jerome Augustyniak, drums, percussion
        Dennis Drew, keyboards


written by Robert Buck & Natalie Merchant


What's The Matter Here


That young boy without a name,
anywhere I'd know his face.
In this city, the kid's my favorite.
I've seen, I've seen, I've--
I see him every day--seen him
run outside looking for a place to hide
from his father, the kid half naked,
and said to myself, "O, what's the matter here?"

I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses.
He's their kid. I stay out of it.
But who gave you the right to do this?

We live on Morgan Street, just ten feet between.
And his mother, I never see her.
But her screams and cussing, I hear them every day.
Threats like: "If you don't mind I will beat on your behind,"
"Slap you, slap you silly," made me say,
"O, what's the matter here?"

I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses:
he's your kid, do as you see fit.
But get this through that I don't approve of
what you did to your own flesh and blood.

I have heard the excuses everybody uses:
he's your kid, do as you see fit.
But get this through that I don't approve of
what you did to your own flesh and blood.

"If you don't sit in your chair straight,
I'll take this belt from around my waist
and don't you think that I won't use it!"

Answer me and take your time,
what could be the awful crime
he could do at so young an age?
If I'm the only witness to your madness,
offer me some words to balance
out of what I see and what I hear.

All these cold and rude things that you do,
I suppose you do because he belongs to you.
And instead of love, and the feel of warmth
you've given him these cuts and sores
that don't heal with time or his age.

But I don't dare say, "What's the matter here?"
But I don't dare say.


_____