clack-clickadee clack-clackding clack-clickadee clack-clackding [alarms mixed with typewriters] [documents flying] Verse 1 I woke beneath a filing cabinet In Corridor Twenty-One. A brass machine informed me: "Your exit permit Has not yet been approved." Another stamped: "Pending." Another stamped: "Revoked." Another stamped: "Please reapply." By breakfast time I'd accidentally joined Three committees, Two archives, And an organisation devoted To locating missing organisations. Department Chorus clack-clickadee clack-clackding File it! Stamp it! Sign it! Queue! Unauthorised departure Requires Form Fifty-Two! clack-clickadee clack-clackding File it! Stamp it! Sign it! Queue! Form Fifty-Two has been replaced By Form Twenty-Two! Traveller Refrain I may be lost, But I'm smart enough. I may be tired, But I'm tough enough. There's light out there. I know it. I saw the windows. Verse 2 The maps had grown defensive. The corridors argued back. One staircase claimed It led outside. It did not. A talking cabinet assured me The nearest exit lay ahead. Three hours later It admitted It had confused me with somebody else. Pneumatic tubes fired overhead. Folders crossed the sky like birds. Every clerk seemed desperately busy. Nobody seemed remotely free. Chorus clack-clickadee clack-clackding One more clue! One more file! One more corridor! One more mile! clack-clickadee clack-clackding One more archive! Almost through! Department Ninety-Seven Has important news for you! Verse 3 At one point I discovered The Department's Hidden Archive. Inside I found: The Hidden Archive Archive. Inside that: Directions to another archive. Inside that: A note that simply read: KEEP LOOKING. Which somehow felt impressive. Refrain I may be lost, But I'm smart enough. I may be turned around. There were windows. I'm sure there were. I remember seeing them. Bridge [Music drops away] Then suddenly I noticed something strange. Nobody inside the building Ever looked outside. The maps looked inward. The folders looked inward. The corridors led inward. Even the clues Pointed to more clues. And for the first time I wondered whether the Department Was searching too. Build [Department reaches maximum chaos] clack-clickadee clack-clackding clickadee clack-clackding clickadee clack-clackding clack-clickadee clack-clackding File it! Stamp it! Sign it! Queue! One more answer! One more door! One more secret! One clue more! Layered Finale [Department chorus grows huge underneath] clack-clickadee clack-clackding ONE MORE FILE! ONE MORE CLUE! ONE MORE ANSWER! ALMOST THROUGH! [Traveller sings calmly over the top] I may be lost, But I'm smart enough. I may be tired, But I'm tough enough. There's light out there. I know it. I saw the windows. Final Verse So I stopped looking for archives. Stopped following maps. Stopped chasing secrets. Stopped reading forms. And simply walked Towards the brightest thing I could find. A forgotten door. Half concealed. No sign. No instructions. No authorisation. Just light beneath it. Ending I pushed it open. And suddenly The river. The sky. The wind. The seven hundred windows. Exactly where I'd left them. The Department still hummed behind me. Still searching. Still filing. Still stamping. Still nearly finding something. And as I walked away, A pneumatic tube burst from a window And dropped a document at my feet. It read: EXIT REQUEST APPROVED I folded it carefully. Looked back once. Then headed for the road. clack-clickadee clack-clackding [fades into birdsong and river breeze] clack-clickadee clack-clackding
