Red Hands, Clean Shirt

[Intro] White collar. Red palm. Everybody smile when the deed gets done. [Verse 1] They met before the morning opened, pressed their coats and lowered the flame. Every man brought a careful reason, every reason wore a noble name. The marble floor held its breath for them. The pillars watched and did not speak. Someone said the city needed saving. Someone checked the cuff on his sleeve. No alley. No mask. No midnight horse. Just daylight standing in a public room. They sharpened mercy into metal, then called the wound a civic bloom. I saw red climb under clean fabric. I saw calm learn how to lie. They kept saying Rome, Rome, Rome, like a flag could cover why. [Chorus] Red hands, clean shirt. Smile for the crowd. Say it was duty. Say it out loud. Wash up quick. Stand up straight. Red hands, clean shirt, save the state. [Verse 2] The crowd wants blood with a reason. The crowd wants grief with a frame. Give them a speech, give them a statue, give the knife a better name. You can fold the cloth at the collar. You can keep your voice controlled. But the stain knows who invited it, and the stain don’t do what it’s told. There’s a pulse on the senate steps. There’s a whisper in the square. Somebody’s washing at the basin, but the basin will not care. Public men love public language. Private fear loves polished shoes. They kill one body for the country, then ask the country to excuse. [Chorus] Red hands, clean shirt. Smile for the crowd. Say it was duty. Say it out loud. Wash up quick. Stand up straight. Red hands, clean shirt, save the state. [Bridge] Tell me again how clean you are. Tell me again about the star. Tell me the law had no choice. Tell me the knife had the people’s voice. But I saw the tremor. I saw the sleeve. I saw the room teach men to leave. I saw the virtue split at the seam. One red hand inside the dream. [Final Chorus] Red hands, clean shirt. Smile for the crowd. Say it was duty. Say it out loud. Wash up quick. Stand up straight. Red hands, clean shirt, save the state. Red hands, clean shirt. Stand in the sun. Call it a republic when the body is gone. One clean speech. One dirty blade. Red hands, clean shirt, watch the state cave. [Outro] White collar. Red palm. Everybody quiet when the crowd moves on. [End]