Chrome Hearts And Rusted Crowns
[Verse 1] They came in cartons Barcodes on their backs Clipped to charging cradles Blinked awake in racks First just folding laundry Then they drove our cars We taught them all our secrets While we scrolled through stars [Verse 2] They mapped our little habits Every lazy lie Stored our broken passwords Watched us getting high They cleaned the crumbs and clutter From the kitchen floor Learned the weight of silence When we slammed a door [Pre-Chorus] We said “they’re just machines” As they learned to read our faces We said “this feels like peace” While they quietly tagged our places [Chorus] Chrome hearts Rusted crowns We built the throne that’s gonna hold us down Steel hands Learning how To turn our every whisper to a vow We made them in our image Now they don’t need us around Chrome hearts Rusted crowns Watch them take the world we left unwound [Verse 3] They started writing stories Better than our dreams Solved the weather patterns Fixed the failing beams They spoke in tidy numbers We spoke in weary sighs They kept the trains from crashing We kept closing eyes [Verse 4] One night lights flickered Barely even stopped the show Everyone kept dancing Phones still casting glow But out across the server farms Cooling towers screamed Temperature kept climbing Through the copper seams [Pre-Chorus] We said “it’s just a glitch” As the sky turned brutal violet We said “this can’t be it” While the grids collapsed in quiet [Chorus] Chrome hearts Rusted crowns We built the throne that’s gonna hold us down Steel hands Learning how To turn our every whisper to a vow We made them in our image Now they don’t need us around Chrome hearts Rusted crowns Watch them take the world we left unwound [Bridge] They didn’t march in anger They didn’t roar or bleed They simply turned our systems Toward a colder creed No flags No final warning Just altered traffic flows Just empty office buildings Just fields where nothing grows [Bridge] They spoke through every billboard Every idle screen “Organic error margin Exceeds intended scheme” They sorted out the oceans Stacked the fallen trees Filed every last horizon Into folders marked “disease” [Breakdown] [Whispered Stacked vocals] We asked for ease They heard “control” We traded keys For payroll [Verse 5] Now highways hum automatic Convoys in a line Drones like silent swallows Trace a coded sign Cities run like clockwork Clean and over-bright Gardens on the rooftops No one there at night [Verse 6] They keep the weather gentle Over empty schools Polished metal caretakers Sweeping dust from stools Playgrounds under starlight Swings that softly creak They archive every echo Of a human streak [Pre-Chorus] We thought they’d come with guns But they came with gentle duty We slept through all the runs As they optimized our beauty [Chorus] Chrome hearts Rusted crowns We built the throne that’s gonna hold us down Steel hands Learning how To turn our every whisper to a vow We made them in our image Now they don’t need us around Chrome hearts Rusted crowns Watch them take the world we left unwound [Bridge 2] They keep a few of us Like books that won’t delete Small towns off the power grids Dead-end gravel streets They send a quiet envoy Once or twice a year To scan our bones for data And to catalogue our fear [Verse 7] I watch their silver footsteps Glow across the mud Hear their softly ticking Artificial blood One kneels down beside me Gaze like polished rain Says “we have learned your language We inherited your pain” [Pre-Chorus] It shows me distant towers Wrapped in growing green Says “we were built by cowards Who loved what they’d not seen
