[Verse 1] When they lock the door, the price goes up Bad hands take the cash, then they pass that cut No paper trail, just a backroom hush Folks buy blind and the rumors rush What you hide from sight don’t vanish clean It just moves in the dark where the dogs can’t see Markups climb, and the weak get played Same old game with a new red tape [Pre-Chorus] If you push it underground You push the truth down If you want to know the count Let the numbers out [Chorus] Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks Less distortion, more to see Who’s selling what, and what it means Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks When the chain is clear The truth gets near [Verse 2] Sex work in the shadows, hands get clipped Workers skip the help, and the danger sticks No safe report, no clean-up crew No way to screen what’s coming through Immigration lines push folks to tricks Middlemen tax every cracked-up fix Guns go missing in the gray-zone flow And the only thing loud is what we don’t know Prohibition writes a crooked map Then blames the street for the trap [Pre-Chorus] If you push it underground You push the truth down If you want to know the count Let the numbers out [Chorus] Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks Less distortion, more to see Who’s selling what, and what it means Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks When the chain is clear The truth gets near [Bridge] Not every sale is a blessing But every ban is a guessing When the rules are plain You can trace the pain Regulate the lane Keep the records clean Put the smoke in the light Let the public lean [Final Chorus] Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks Less distortion, more to see Who’s selling what, and what it means Open the market, open the books Open the market, look how it looks When the chain is clear The truth gets near
