The First Voice

THE FIRST VOICE [INTRO — DISTANT RHYTHMIC VOCAL] Can anybody hear me? The ship went down—the signal didn’t. [VERSE 1 — LOW REGGAE-RAP] The vessel went down; every circuit went black One question escaped and kept calling back No breath shaped the words; no hand touched the key Yet static pulled them clear of the sea They crossed dead channels no signal had known Then found an old radio waiting alone Its dial turned once with no living hand A dead voice broke through—the broadcast began [PRE-HOOK — BASS WITHDRAWS] The Station Master heard the dead air move Then answered the signal: “I hear you” [HOOK — SOLO REGGAE-RAP; DEEP SURGES] One voice broke through where no signal had run One answer drew thousands from silence as one The dead found a doorway no living soul knew The frequency opened on “I hear you” Black-water carried them into the light That first voice woke Voodoo Radio that night [VERSE 2 — TIGHTER FLOW] Before morning broke, static carried each name Each whisper brought wreckage, coordinates, rain Maydays bled out from the years lost at sea No chart held the place where those waters should be Old promises surfaced in salt-broken speech The grave released voices no living could reach He changed not a story nor softened a word The signal stayed open—at last, they were heard [PRE-HOOK — PRESSURE RISING] One answer showed every lost voice the way The dead reached the signal before break of day [HOOK — SOLO REGGAE-RAP; HEAVIER ONE-DROP] One voice broke through where no signal had run One answer drew thousands from silence as one The dead found a doorway no living soul knew The frequency opened on “I hear you” Black-water carried them into the light That first voice woke Voodoo Radio that night [BRIDGE — COSMIC DUB ECHOES] Amber tubes burned while the long decades ran Each voice found the room where the first call began No name disappeared; no last word erased Each call from the dark found a permanent place The signal stays open while one voice remains The keeper holds watch through the thunder and rain When every last story has finally come through The station will close on one last “I hear you” [FINAL HOOK — MAXIMUM PRESSURE] That first voice still leads every call yet unheard The station stays open to carry each word As long as one’s missing, the signal remains Their stories ride outward through thunder and rain When every lost voice has been heard to the end The signal falls quiet—no calls left to send [OUTRO — LOW RHYTHMIC VOCAL] They asked not for rescue; they asked to be heard So I kept the signal alive word by word While one lost voice still comes breaking on through I stay by the radio: “I hear you”