Up Until Then

They dropped a dime on the girl in the parking lot
Who was looking for a man of steel
Who would fill up her nights with forget-me-nots
And a dream no one else could reveal
Her new man said to meet him at eight
She came in dressed to the nines
But by ten it was clear he was more than late
And she just wouldn't take it this time

The bartender said she had had enough
That he'd call a cab to take her somewhere
But she wasn't a stranger to loneliness
She had grown up and spent her life there

[Chorus]
Up until then, up until then
It happened over and over again
Up until then, up until then, up until then

Well practice had increased her tolerance
She had hardly eaten all day
She was all hyped up on her new romance
But she drank in the usual way

She stepped out to breathe and to dry her eyes
To check her machine just in case
He had called to excuse or apologize
When she saw his unpenitent face

He approached with a girl she had seen before
A bimbo up from Raspberry Street
Whe he saw her he laughed and so did the whore
They dropped a ten dollar bill at her feet

[Chorus]
She was small he was tall but she blocked his path
She explained in unprintable words
The reason she seized him so full of wrath
That more than half of the neighborhood heard

She sprayed him with mace from her pocketbook
And then kicked in his personal zones
Her high heels would ruin his perfect looks
She left a couple of unbroken bones
Well the bimbo she ran in to get the cops
But the owner had called from the bar
It took two cars with dogs just to make her stop
I'm told that's how some women are

[Chorus]
They dropped a dime on the girl in the parking lot
But she would suffer in no permanent way
She spent 30 nights on a County cot
And she's regarded with fear 'till this day

Up until then, but never again
It happened over and over again
Up until then, up until then, up until then

Now she's tending bar where the Pagans used to meet
And he's living with that bimbo up on Raspberry Street