The System

She felt the world owed her a living after all that she'd been given.
Her paradise had crumbled. All that was left was worthless tat.
So she turned in on herself and found no comfort in that.
The system she'd not fed now seemed to be there to be bled,
But lights that don't burn brightly often don't get seen,
And the path she walked was slippery, and paved with brown and green.

Her kids were time consuming, and their demands left her fuming.
Three kids by three bad fathers told no tale of small regret,
But that would change with this new fella she had just met.
He'd served his time for dealing, and now she had the feeling
He could be the one to savour and save her.
And maybe help her be just that bit braver.

Now he's working as a builder, and my God he could've killed her
On more that one occasion since she had number four.
But he bottles all the violence in his soul's very core.
But every Friday night he goes out for love, or out to fight
Because her focus is now all on the screaming brat.
This is his life now, and he knows that.

He got home from the site, and a copper set's his fright,
With a woman who he thought was from the DSS,
By the ID round her neck and the sober business dress.
He rushes into the room, and gets a rising sense of doom,
The body of his partner, dead eyes fixed on the TV.
VH1 is playing Queen's Bohemian rhapsody.

He felt the world owed him her life, and although not his wife,
She'd been all to him, although that time had been brief,
There was rage-filled guilt to gilt the edges of his grief.
As the children were led away, he knew he had a word to say
"I love you all," he said through stricken tears.
And the system set about creating new fears.