[INTRO — Solo acoustic guitar, organic percussive fingerstyle. Rhythmic fingerpicking, subtle string slaps and syncopated taps against the guitar body. Natural string noise. Intimate, hypnotic, slightly irregular human groove. No vocals until the first verse. No other instruments.] [VERSE 1 — MALE, WARM, EARTHY, SOULFUL] Who taught the river where to run? Who told the moon to chase the sun? Who drew the lines across the land? Who said we ought to understand? Why do we build what we destroy? Why does a lie make so much noise? Why do we fear what we don't know? And kill the things we claim to grow? [VERSE 2 — FEMALE, AIRY, BREATHY, HAUNTING] Who gave the colours all their names? Who made the rules for winning games? When did a number make us rich? And when did we become the script? Why does the truth depend on who's asking? Why do we smile when we're barely masking? Why do we search the whole world through For something we forgot we knew? [PRE-CHORUS — MALE AND FEMALE, ALTERNATING LINES. GUITAR TAPPING BECOMES MORE INSISTENT.] [MALE] Why do we need to be right? [FEMALE] Why do we turn wrong into a fight? [MALE] Why do we follow the crowd? [FEMALE] Then wonder why we can't hear ourselves out? [CHORUS — BOTH VOICES, STRONG MELODIC HOOK. MALE LEAD, FEMALE HARMONIES BUILDING INTO A SOARING BELT.] [BOTH] Oh, the questions nobody asks, The cracks beneath the looking glass. The things we know, the things we hide, The worlds we build inside our minds. [FEMALE — SOARING, POWERFUL] Tell me, tell me, what is true? [MALE — RAW, MELODIC] Is it what we see or what we're told to? [BOTH — FULL, EMOTIONAL HARMONY] Oh, the questions nobody asks... Who are we beneath the masks? [POST-CHORUS — FEMALE, FLOATING AND ETHEREAL] Ooooooh... Beneath the masks... Hmmm... Beneath the masks... [VERSE 3 — MALE, RHYTHMIC, SLIGHTLY PLAYFUL] We've put machines into the sky, We've taught a thousand stars to fly. We speak to strangers round the earth, Still can't decide what love is worth. We've mapped the oceans, split the atom, Built a world and can't quite fathom Why the more we seem to know, The less we're sure of where to go. [VERSE 4 — FEMALE, DELICATE AT FIRST, GROWING IN STRENGTH] We call it progress, call it fate, Call it freedom, call it change. But who decides which way is forward When we're running round in circles again? We want the answers, clean and clear, Something solid we can hold right here. But what if life's not meant to fit Inside the boxes we have built? [PRE-CHORUS — CALL AND RESPONSE, BUILDING INTENSITY] [MALE] Who decides what makes us wise? [FEMALE] Who decides what's truth or lies? [MALE] What if neither side can see? [FEMALE] What if you and I are both just guessing differently? [CHORUS — BIGGEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE SO FAR. THE GUITAR DRIVES HARDER THROUGH PERCUSSIVE FINGERSTYLE, NEVER BECOMING A FULL BAND.] [BOTH] Oh, the questions nobody asks, The cracks beneath the looking glass. The things we know, the things we hide, The worlds we build inside our minds. [FEMALE — FULL-THROATED BELT] Tell me, tell me, what is true? [MALE — POWERFUL, SOULFUL] Is it what we see or what we're told to? [BOTH — OVERLAPPING HARMONIES] Oh, the questions nobody asks... Who are we beneath the masks? [BRIDGE — THE GUITAR STRIPS BACK TO SPARSE FINGERPICKING. MALE AND FEMALE TRADE LINES, INTIMATE AND CURIOUS.] [MALE] What was the world before a name? [FEMALE] Was fire still fire before the flame? [MALE] Would a tree be less alive... [FEMALE] If no one stopped to ask it why? [MALE] If no one watched, would kindness stay? [FEMALE] If no one clapped, would we still play? [MALE] If no one knew what we believed... [FEMALE — RISING] Would we still believe? [PAUSE — ONE SOFT TAP AGAINST THE GUITAR BODY.] [MALE — GENTLY] And if we never find out... [FEMALE — ALMOST WHISPERED, THEN OPENING INTO A SOARING MELODIC LINE] Would that really matter now? [FINAL CHORUS — EXPLOSIVE EMOTIONAL RELEASE THROUGH VOCALS ALONE. FAST, COMPLEX FINGERPICKING AND RHYTHMIC GUITAR-BODY SLAPS. BOTH VOICES INTERWEAVE, THEN UNITE.] [BOTH] Oh, the questions nobody asks, The truth that never holds its shape. The more we look, the more we find A thousand worlds inside the mind. [FEMALE — SOARING BELT] Tell me, tell me, what is true? [MALE] Maybe there's more than one point of view! [BOTH — FULL HARMONY] Oh, the questions nobody asks! No easy answers, no looking back! [FEMALE — HIGH, ETHEREAL] Ooooooh, keep asking... [MALE — SOULFUL, MELODIC] Keep looking... [BOTH — POWERFUL FINAL LINE] Keep wondering who we are! [OUTRO — THE GUITAR RETURNS TO GENTLE, ORGANIC FINGERPICKING. NATURAL STRING NOISE. THE FEMALE VOICE FLOATS ABOVE THE LAST FEW NOTES.] [FEMALE — DISTANT, BREATHY] Hmmm... Who are we? [The final guitar notes ring out naturally and fade into silence. No extra instruments, no artificial reverb wash, no spoken outro.]
