life was great
til I made my big mistake
oh no it'll never happen to me
life was short
and life was sweet
I was thinking as I hit the street
I could hardly beleve
I could scarcely conceive
but I had gone out the window
I had gone out the window
I had gone out the window
she was fine
she looked great
and so we made our big mistake
I swear I swear I swear
it'd never happen to her
but the pavement knocked her head around
when she hit the solid concrete ground
from 30 flights above
and she was thirty something loving nothing
gone out the window
she had gone out the window
she had gone out the window
catch me if I'm falling,
catch me if I'm calling
he was smart he was wise
he'd profoundly philosophize
empathy for all humanity
'til one day by an open window
there's a note that read
I've gone out the window - I'm dead
he said yes to life for all of his life
but then one day he said no
I gotta go out the window
we all go out the window
catch me i am falling
catch me I am calling
catch me we are falling
catch me we are calling
Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004), and drummer John Sparrow (joined 2005). Former members of the band include drummers Victor DeLorenzo (1980–1993, 2002–2013), Guy Hoffman (1993–2002), and Brian Viglione (2013–2016). Violent Femmes are considered to be an integral part of the then-underground folk punk and alternative rock scenes of the 1980s, and remain influential or inspirational to the subsequent movements, particularly on folk rock, indie rock, grunge, pop punk, emo, and the late 1980s and 1990s alternative rock scene.
Violent Femmes have released 10 studio albums and 19 singles during the course of their career. The band found critical acclaim with the release of their self-titled debut album in early 1983. Featuring many of their best-known songs, including "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off", "Add It Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone", Violent Femmes became the band's biggest-selling album and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA. After releasing two more albums, Hallowed Ground (1984) and The Blind Leading the Naked (1986), the band's future was uncertain and they split up in 1987 when Gano and Ritchie went solo. However, they regrouped a year later, releasing their fourth album 3 (1989). The follow-up album, Why Do Birds Sing? (1991), contains the fan favorite and concert staple "American Music".
In 1993, founding member Victor DeLorenzo (percussion, snare drum) left Violent Femmes and was replaced by Guy Hoffman, who debuted on the band's sixth album New Times (1994). Two more albums – Rock!!!!! (1995) and Freak Magnet (2000) – were released with this lineup before DeLorenzo rejoined the band in 2002 for what was to be a farewell tour. Following the commercial failure of Freak Magnet, Violent Femmes did not release any more studio albums for almost two decades, although a number of compilation albums were released in the early 2000s, along with a few one-off songs. Some controversy over the licensing of the band's songs for commercial use led to an official break-up in 2009, though they re-formed in 2013 (shortly before DeLorenzo left Violent Femmes again), and have since released two more studio albums of new material: We Can Do Anything (2016) and Hotel Last Resort (2019).
