Don’t — An adult woman firmly closes a red garden gate while a chastened adult man stands outside holding court papers on a bright Merced street

The songbook

Don’t

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr. Listen to the recorded versions and follow the lyric below.

Original Doug Heyes lyrics · AI-generated music & vocals

A survivor recounts abuse, ignored refusals and the lasting damage of betrayal within a family. The repeated insistence that no means no anchors a voice moving between anger, grief and the wish to reclaim a future. The abuser's imprisonment does not erase what happened or restore the trust that was taken.

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Recorded versions

2 recordings. Different voices and arrangements bring another side of the song into the light.

Lyrics

Don’t

Words by Douglas Heyes Jr

Save Lyrics as Text
DON’T

She said, Don’t, but he went and did it anyway
Now he’s got a court date and a lot of fines to pay
I don't know how he'll pay it cuz he's dirt floor poor
All for just a minute rappin’ on  my back door
Don't, she said, as she was looking right at me
Don't, you will regret it, if you try to attack me
He up and put his hand right up in here on my knee
He up and had his way with me, O, Great God Almighty

He went to the Boutique and he bought a sexy Nighty
He made me put it on and he called me Aphrodite
Then he went and invited a few friends to the party
By a quarter past 10, it was really getting started
Don’t means Don’t, if I even have to say
I had to find another way to make a getaway
But those damn iron bars keep a- getting’ in my way
Cuz we live in the Ghetto on the South Side of LA

There never is a reason to hurt a little person
Pedal to the metal but your life is still reversin’
Mom is at the hospital, a double shift Nurse
It could be much better but it's always gettin’ worse
Living South of Downtown is a Blessing and a Curse
You can sing the Chorus, but I still Live the Verse
Hell on Wheels is how it feels, it all gets so Perverse
You'll Fly in with a Stork, but you'll be leavin’ in a Hearse

Don't means Don’t in every single day
I sure won't forget the things you did to me that day
I'll carry them Forever like a Cross upon my shoulder
Maybe I'll forgive you when I get a little older
But for now you’re Dead to me,  and there is no Tomorrow
I won't waste another day, and no More Tears of Sorrow
Yesterday is gone and won't be coming back too soon
You're gone, I'm going Howling underneath the Blood Moon

Don't, just don't, don't you do it all again
You destroyed our Family when I was only 10
Back behind the Factory, you Sold me to your Friends
Now you're in the Penitentiary and about to meet The End
If they keep you their forever, it will be too soon
May you never see the Sunrise or another Laughing Moon
No more will you show up at midnight inside my room
Till I'm breathing fresh air and the flowers start to bloom

OUTRO:
Don't means Don’t and you better not forget it
You will or you won't, it will kill you if you let it
Don't means don't, I'll never trust another Lover
You took away my hope,, and I gotta say it's Over
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