Somebody’s Gotta Pay – Music and Lyric by Steve Bell
Somebody told me about it and it burns me up at night
What kind of man would choose to spoil a child
Who do you call to make it right
Not gentle Jesus meek and mild
That’s for sure
’cause He won’t fight
So I can’t stop thinking about it – imagining that I
Could be the reaper grim enough to make it right
The problem is there’s no one with
Enough to lose to pay for this
Somebody told me about it
and it burns me up at night:
What kind of man would choose to spoil a child?
Who do you call to make it right?
Not gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
that’s for sure, cuz He won’t fight.
So I don’t feel guilty about it,
imagining that I
could be the reaper grim enough
to make it right.
The problem is there’s no one with
enough to lose to pay for this.
Somebody’s gotta pay for this.
Nobody gets away unless somebody dies.
And it’s confirmed that there’s been pain
enough to satisfy the rage
from the losses she sustained
by age thirteen.
Only then can the rest go free.
I’m still obsessing about it,
cuz it doesn’t end up nice:
Another man, another choice, another child.
And who’s gonna pay for all these crimes?
Some dream about avenging mine,
I suppose, but nothing will suffice
unless you stumble upon it,
like dream I had one night
about a man
who chose to pay the price
on a tree, silently and still,
just long enough for me to kill.
Somebody’s gotta pay for this.
Nobody gets away unless somebody dies.
And it’s confirmed that there’s been pain
enough to satisfy the rage
from the losses she sustained
by age thirteen.
Only then can the rest go free.
Only then can the rest go free.
Somebody’s gotta pay for this,
cuz none of us get away unless somebody dies.
And it’s confirmed that there’s been pain
enough to satisfy the rage
from the losses she sustained
by age thirteen.
Only then can the rest go free.
Only then can we all go free.
One of Steve’s deepest songs imo… especially in light of recent discussions about The Wrath of God and Penal Substitution vs. A More Christlike God.
Where does this longing for violent, wrathful justice originate? God or me? …
“on a tree, silently and still, just long enough for me to kill.”