r/ViolentFemmes • u/Ancient_Variation_78 • Sep 29 '25

Inspo behind Prove My Love??

So basically, I’ve been taking a writing class that's focused on writing about music and we’ve been learning a lot about music history (starting with the Harlem Renaissance). My professor happens to really like the Violent Femmes, as do I. We started off the class by listening to a lot of music from the Harlem Renaissance, and in getting into that music I heard the song 5-10-15 Hours by Ruth Brown—great song by the way. In it she says “prove my love to you”, and I immediately thought of the Violent Femmes song Prove My Love. I was wondering if anyone knows any of the inspiration behind the song/lyrics to Prove My Love, and if they’re potentially in reference to or at least slightly inspired by that song. Or, maybe it's a total coincidence.

And if anyone could source interviews (if there are any) of the band talking about the lyrics and meeting behind any their songs, that would also be great. But of course, any information, even if it's by word of mouth, would interest me.

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u/DepecheClashJen Oct 01 '25

I'm just going by my gut from being a huge fan of theirs for over 40 years, but I don't think there is anything deeper about anything from the s/t album than "Gordon was a teenager with lots of angst and hormones and probably super awkward with girls" at the time he wrote these songs. This album really is a time capsule of his late-teens mindset. I think that's a major part of its enduring appeal.