Subtle Sister Songtext
von Alix Olson

So we′ve learned karate

Carry knives on our runs
Wield words like weapons
Prepare glares like hidden guns
We've deconstructed, demystified
Tried retribution, remythologized

We′ve been diagnosed with your diseases
And still tried pleases, tried tears, tried Jesus
You wanna see what it's like down here
In this pool of someone else's rules?
Well jump in, take a swim
Or just sit in this pit
Squishing bare toes in someone else′s bullshit
We do it all the time


So we′ve tried being patient
Collected, calm, nice
Tried praying, tried laying you
Paying the price
We've learned to scream until our throats throbbed
What else do you do when you′re cunts being robbed?
And they say, "You've made progress, girls

Take a rest in between"

But see, when you′re resting
Someone else is progressing
It's what I′ve seen

So I take back the whispers
The cute mute act
And the high-pitched giggles
Yeah, I take 'em back
I won't avoid your stare
Evade your stat
Nothing of that kind
Won′t help you help me victimize
The only space that′s mine


See, now I'd put my life on the line
Just to see ′em trip
Frown and say, "Funny love
I never saw you slip"
I say, "My life on the line"
You say, "Man, she's jaded"
I say, "Maybe control′s overrated"
Like when we cackled they called us witches
Now we don't giggle they call us bitches

Well I′m taking it back
Full of hisses
Cackling loud
Cackling proud now

And they're getting nervous with this
Kissing each other
Scratching their heads
What's going on, brother?
And they yell, "Feed your husbands
Stop feeding the fire"
And we just cackle
We′re a fucking witches′ choir

And we sing, "Sharpen your knives
Sharpen your daughters
Steam up the mirrors
Bake us some dreams
Cook up some riots
Fry up some screams
And when you're sick of your skirts
Slice open the seams"
′Cause they want domestics

They'll give you needle and thread
For patching their egos
We′ll sew revolution instead

And I hear you saying, "Subtle, sister
Less bite, more bark
You can make your point
Without leaving such a mark
Subtle, sister, stop your seething
I think we got it
I think we're even"

Subtle like a penis pounding its target
Subtle like you′re hissing from across the street
Subtle like the binding on my sister's feet
Subtle like her belly raped with his semen
Draped in his fuck
Funny doesn't seem even

See, sometimes anger′s subtle

Stocked in metaphor
Full of finesse and dressed in allure
Yeah, sometimes anger′s subtle
Less rage than sad
Leaking slow through spigots you didn't know you had

And sometimes it′s just
Fuck you
Fuck you
You see
And to me
That's poetry too