THE ASSEMBLY LINE
He said, “Come on,
girls, there's a place for you”
Painted every bedroom baby pink and blue Gave us little dresses,
told us what to say Said a proper woman knows how to
obey Clocked us in at seven,
kissed us on the head Told us what to cook and where
to make the bed Put a little ribbon on a little lie
Said we'd be protected if we stayed inside
One for the kitchen,
two for the wife Three for the children,
four for your life Smile for the picture,
stand in a line Don't ask questions,
everything's fine
Is this an assembly line?
Or are we doing fine?
Step to the left,
step to the right Keep your pretty little head upright Is this
an assembly line? Who gets to draw the line?
If we're all made to fit the same Who gets to choose
our names?
He inspected collars, checked us at the door Said a girl who
talks back isn't worth much more Passed around the handbook,
page by page “Good girls don't get angry,
good girls don't escape” Mother made the dinner,
sister swept the floor Someone nailed the windows shut and called it
keeping score Then I saw the conveyor moving underneath All the little
perfect dolls with numbers on their sleeves
One for the kitchen,
two for the wife Three for the children,
four for your life Smile for the picture,
stand in a line Don't ask questions,
everything's fine
Is this an assembly line?
Or are we doing fine?
Step to the left,
step to the right Keep your pretty little head upright Is this
an assembly line? Who gets to draw the line?
If we're all made to fit the same Who gets to choose
our names?
Cut the power, stop the machine Take the pretty uniforms off the
scene Break the clock and open the gate We're not your products,
we're not your fate Girls in the kitchen,
girls in the hall Girls who were told they'd never stand tall
Now we're pulling every lever we find And sending your little machine
down the line
Was this an assembly line?
Well, now we're doing fine Step to the left,
step to the right But this time we decide Was this an
assembly line? We finally drew the line You built the machine to
make us small Now we're tearing down the walls
Clocked out... Lights off...
Doors open... No more assembly line.