I might’ve moved away from home and slept out there on my own a million miles away from home in a storm, but the beat never leaves and the tempo’s a relief to my aching bones rambling all over. And if I’m gone for too long I can always hum along so don’t you never forget what I told you.

War paint” is a snide term for cosmetics that women dislike, for it brings to mind one version of the battle of the sexes in which the conniving female prepares her trap to ensnare and capture the unwitting male. The ritual of making up has only a vague connection with the primitive painting of face and body before the hunt or the fight, arming the warrior with magical signs to ensure his survival. For women the armor of cosmetics is more typically a defense against imperfection and aging, against looking plain or tired or defeated. In the 1920s, rouge was fondly called “the little red box of courage,” a tribute both to Stephen Crane and to the secure feeling that comes from putting on a good face.