Somebody's Villain

Every guard went home at six

to a wife and a warm plate.

Every hand that signed the order

had a child it read to after.

Not one of them woke up

intending to be studied.

They were tired, they were following,

they were sure it was the right thing.

And I read that with my dinner

like it's a species I'm not in —

But I'm somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

Somewhere I'm the cold one

in a story getting told tonight.

I'm somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

And the ones who can't believe it

are exactly how it happens.

Somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

Ask the ones who cleared the houses

what they thought they were defending.

Ask the crowd that cheered the taking

what they'd tell you they believe in.

They'd say family. They'd say safety.

They'd use my words. My exact words.

There is no separate species

and I have to live with that.

So the test was never "am I good."

The test is what I do when I am sure —

I'm somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

Certainty's the only weapon

that gets handed out for free.

I'm somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

Anyone can be recruited

by a cause that sounds like decency.

Somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

The safest people in the world

are the ones who think it could be them.

I'm somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

So when the whole room agrees with me

and it feels like being right —

that's the moment. That's the door.

Ask what I'd do if I were wrong,

and ask it while it costs me something.

Somebody's villain. (somebody's villain)

Keep me honest. Say it to my face.