Framed within a suburban context, the reality of domestic violence is explored. The first two verses are told from a male neighbour’s point of view who hears a ‘screaming girl’ across the street, but does nothing. The final verse is sung from the girl’s perspective detailing the ‘constant lurking threat’ and how she sometimes screams in the hope that someone on her street will hear her pleas for help, uniting the two characters of the song. The song is about the failure to act, but ends with striving intent and the self-determining mantra of ‘decent men’.
lyrics
There's a dog barking out back
There's a plane flying overhead
And in the room next door is a film I've seen twice before
All of it seems like it's always on repeat
I noticed when you were away
There's something that I want to say
The screaming girl over the street
I'm no man, when I fail to speak
Are you my Clementine?
I read her words and they read just fine
But decent men are nowhere near - around here
I noticed when you were away
There's something that I want to say
There's a monster in our house
There's a fist, the constant lurking threat
And in this 'happy home'
I scream sometimes, I feel all alone
Can anybody hear me out, in our street?
I noticed when you were away
There's something that I want to say
I noticed when you went away
There's something that I should have said
Decent men
Decent men
Decent men
Decent men
credits
from Bedouin of the Fitzroy Evening,
released February 5, 2019
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Matt Reiner: vocals, guitar
Matt Hills: bass guitar, backing vocals
Jamie Woolaway: piano, Hammond organ
Frank Boulden: drums, pedal steel, backing vocals
Stacie Reeves: backing vocals
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