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We Say No! Gerri Gribi BMI ©1991

In 1985, a few days before our annual Take Back the Night rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a local woman was murdered by her consistently abusive husband. Several other incidents that year made me think about how violence against women starts with how we are objectified, that sexual harrasment and sexual assault are just different points on the same continuum. I wrote this song, with a strong chorus that lets us all yell out the word...NO!

This song is recorded on Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here. Lilyfern Records, 1991. You can also download it.

I see a woman walking down the street

Gets her body checked out by the men she meets

Shouldn't she feel flattered when they turn and stare?

Don't their jeers and whistles just show how much they care?

We say NO, NO, a thousand times NO!

We say NO to abuse, we say NO

We say NO, NO, a thousand times NO!

We say NO to abuse, we say NO

I see a little girl playing in the park

Not a care in the world, it's hours before dark

The teenaged boy who raped her says he did it just for fun

And she's not bruised or bleeding, so there's really no harm done

We say NO, NO, a thousand times NO!

We say NO to abuse, we say NO

Her husband bought a gun

And shot her through the head

The neighbors and the family were shocked that she was dead

"Oh sure...we knew he beat her, but doesn't every man

"Discipline his wife a little every now and then?"

We say NO, NO, a thousand times NO!

We say NO to abuse, we say NO