[OPEN — continuation of the final arp from WAKE THE DEAD] wake... wake... wake... [ARP begins skipping] Wait— Why do I... remember this? [LOW SAX — one wounded note] I remember the room. I remember the teeth. I remember saying "I'm fine" while disappearing underneath. I remember the fire. I remember my feet. But I don't remember— [HARD CUT] WHO TAUGHT ME I HAD TO BLEED TO DESERVE SOME PEACE? [beat enters — crooked boom-bap / heartbeat] Ohhhhh... There it is. That little fucking lie we kept calling life. "Be good." "Stay quiet." "Don't bite." "Don't cry." "Stand straight." "Act right." [whisper] ...play dead. [ARP STUTTERS] play-play-play— dead-dead-dead— [BUILD] But you made one mistake... You thought the dead would wake up empty. [DROP] THE DEAD REMEMBER. EVERY WORD. EVERY DOOR. EVERY TIME WE MADE OURSELVES SMALL TO FIT SOMEBODY ELSE'S WORLD. THE DEAD REMEMBER. Every "nothing's wrong." Every swallowed scream. Every beautiful fucking piece we murdered just to be— [ALL SOUND CUTS] ...seen. [CHORUS — suddenly melodic] So give me back my ugly. Give me back my strange. Give me every crooked little piece I was terrified to name. Give me back the shadow I kept running from in shame. Maybe I was never meant to kill it— Maybe I was meant to ask its name. [VOICE BEHIND VOCAL] What's your name? [childlike distorted answer] ...me. [LONG SILENCE] [VERSE II — beat returns backward] Oh. Ohhhhh shit. It wasn't underneath me. It wasn't behind my teeth. It wasn't some monster waiting underneath— It was ME knocking from the other side, while ME kept screaming— DON'T LET ME INSIDE. [STUTTER ARP ACCELERATES] I buried me. You buried you. We learned exactly what they taught us to do. Then called the grave "normal" because everybody was buried there too. [DROP II — enormous] SO WAKE 'EM UP. Not the bodies— THE NAMES. Wake the dreams we were embarrassed to claim. Wake the child who learned to behave. Wake the lover who became afraid. Wake the voice. Wake the strange. Wake every piece we exchanged for permission to remain. [INSTRUMENTS COLLAPSE] And if the dead remember... [heartbeat] then maybe death was never the end. Maybe "dead" was just the word we gave ourselves... [close whisper] ...when we forgot who we'd been. [THE SIGNATURE ARP PLAYS CLEANLY FOR THE FIRST TIME] Wait... If I remember me— [another voice answers] ...do you remember you? [BLACKOUT]
