Week #32: A Stranger Who Looks Like You

This past week was a flashback to the #MeToo movement of a few years ago, with the New York governor resigning in the heat of a sexual harassment scandal.

When many stories came out about sexual harassment in Hollywood in 2017, I couldn’t help sympathize with the wives in these stories who were discovering the truth of their husband’s actions, whether those actions occurred while they were married or before they knew them.

I wrote this week’s song around that time, in early 2018, from the point of view of a wife of someone accused of sexual harassment.

I don’t remember where we were that night
I had a sneaky suspicion something wasn’t right
The air felt heavy, you avoided my eyes
Soon you removed your shiny disguise

This particular wife suspected something was up, but wasn’t sure what it was. Yet as the story unraveled, she began to learn the truth about her husband.

As your story unraveled, messages unscrambled
I tried to decipher what was true
The room began spinning, there was no chance of winning
I was facing a stranger who looks like you

The wife in this song learned some pretty horrendous things about her husband after reading articles about his actions.

I can’t remember what I said that night
Torn to pieces with no will to fight
I saw the headlines, like swords to my heart
I never dreamt this would all fall apart

As she learned more about what he had done, she realized that the person in front of her, who looks like the man she married, is not who she thought he was.

All of your secrets, all of your lies
All that I once loved, I’ve come to despise

As your story unraveled, messages unscrambled
I tried to decipher what was true
The room began spinning, there was no chance of winning
I was facing a stranger who looks like you.