Butterfly

Sigh.

This song is not remotely about rape or coerced sex. It's about a relationship where the girl is truly in love with the guy, and the guy really only wanted a physical relationship, but comes to feel bad about it afterwards. As is mentioned a million times throughout these comments, this song and most of the album Pinkerton contain references to Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly: the main character is named B.F. Pinkerton, and the leading female is Cio-Cio San (i.e. "listening to Cio-Cio San, fall in love all over again" from "El Scorcho").

In Madame Butterfly, Pinkerton is a Naval officer stationed in Japan who is infatuated with Cio-Cio San (a.k.a. Butterfly) and marries her, claiming that "throughout the world, the Yankee wanderer is not satisfied until he captures the flowers of every shore and the love of every beautiful woman." Cio-Cio San truly falls in love with Pinkerton who, after marrying her and sleeping with her, has to leave her to continue his Naval expeditions, but promises to "return with the roses, when the earth is full of joy, when the robin makes his nest" (recognize that last line?) i.e. spring.

Cio-Cio San has Pinkerton's child and waits 3 years for him to return, becoming impoverished but always hopeful that Pinkerton will return, despite being told that foreign husbands never return to their wives and only marry them to have someone to have sex with while they are in Japan. Cio-Cio San does not believe this until the American consul shows her a letter in which Pinkerton reveals that he assumes that Cio-Cio San would not even remember him, meaning his view of the relationship was extremely casual while hers was so intimate. She has Pinkerton informed by letter that she has his child, thinking he will return when he hears this news.

Pinkerton does return, but he returns with his American wife to take his child, and though he feels extreme remorse and even affection towards Cio-Cio San, he does not love her in the way she loves him. She gives up her child to him and commits suicide at the end of the play while Pinkerton weeps her name.

When Rivers saw this opera for the first time, he wept uncontrollably--presumably because he related very deeply to the story, although it is extremely sad and beautiful and I wept the first time I saw it even though I cannot relate to it in that way. This song is about sleeping with someone because you are infatuated with them ("I did what my body told me to") and hurting them very deeply when you leave them because they love you in a way you do not love them and you took advantage of that, perhaps even unintentionally.

It's not about rape. Give it up.