Instrumentation: Deep baritone vocal, fingerpicked steel-string transitioning to heavy open-chord strums, late-enter percussion, dry room intimacy, tape saturation Tempo: Slow mid-tempo Verse 1 (Bare, fingerpicked steel-string, close-mic intimacy, faint tape hiss) Fluorescent tubes buzz like a bad habit overhead Tracing the ink on a contract I’ve already dead-read Tank's on empty, the needle's stuck on cold Trading my twenties for a story nobody ever told The system isn't broken, man, it’s working just fine— It’s just keeping your fingers right on the line. Verse 2 (Open-chord strums drift in, subtle vocal grit) They sold us suburban lawns and thirty-year dreams Now the cost of the commute is bursting at the seams I stare at my reflection in the elevator door A ghost in a starched collar, wondering what for There’s a fire under this cheap wool thread And I’m so tired of feeling like I’m already dead. Pre-Chorus (Restrained dynamics, deep baritone vocal with natural room decay) The suit’s still sharp, but the soul's gone wild Thirty years of quiet rage in a corporate child If we can't beat the machine from the inside out… We’ll tear down the drywall, give 'em something to doubt. A dapper disaster, straight from the chest. Chorus (Dry room percussion and kick drum enter, full open-chord strums) Boardroom breakdown, we’re tearing it down Slicked-back hair flying as we claim this town No more quiet resignations, no more falling in line Just a broken clock running out of stolen time. Yeah, we're taking the crown... We're taking it down. Outro (Drums drop out, back to a lone fingerpicked steel-string and vulnerable, low vocals) Ripping off the tie... Setting the whole boardroom free. Left my soul on the carpet, ...but I'm bringing the rest of me home.
