[ INSTRUMENTAL INTRO: | TAG: A crisp, militant snare drum roll. It builds for four bars. | TAG: A single, distorted guitar plays a staccato, ominous two-note riff |TAG: Then—BAM—the full band crashes in with a massive, mid-tempo, lockstep rock groove that feels like a victory march |TAG: Band Groove: Guitar CHUG-chug-chug-CHUG | TAG: Drums: BOOM-crack-BOOM-crack] (Verse 1) Said goodbye to my integrity At the airport VIP bar! The words I wrote in agony Are now a guided tour! The microphone’s a loaded gun That shoots blanks for everyone! A photo-op democracy! Where the thought is free but the merch ain’t cheap! (Pre-Chorus) So put your hands up for the casualty! The first-class tragedy! The sellout symphony! (CHORUS) HEAR THE SOUND OF THE SELLING OUT! OF THE MARKET-RESEARCHED SHOUT! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! A CONTRACT-MANDATED SPREE! A FIVE-STAR CATACLYSM! A PUBLICIST'S BAPTISM! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! (Verse 2) They paid me to forget my name And trademark my own pain! My angst is now a beverage A lifestyle I can leverage! I'm shaking hands that wrote the checks That bought and sold my nervous wrecks! I'm smiling for the branding board! A happily-ever-after fraud! (Pre-Chorus) So put your hands up for the casualty! The first-class tragedy! The sellout symphony! (CHORUS) HEAR THE SOUND OF THE SELLING OUT! OF THE MARKET-RESEARCHED SHOUT! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! A CONTRACT-MANDATED SPREE! A FIVE-STAR CATACLYSM! A PUBLICIST'S BAPTISM! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! [Bridge - Breakdown - The music pulls back to just bass and a steady, menacing kick drum. The vocals become a spoken, cynical rap:] Check the schedule… another talk show green room. Another ghost-written tweet launching into the gloom. Another interview where I say what they said to say. Another five-star hotel where the minibar’s the only one who knows I’m dead. They’re selling t-shirts of my nervous breakdown! In sizes small through triple brown! I’m the poster boy for the great escape… Into a gilded, inescapable… landscape… [Guitar Solo: Not a technical solo, but a soaring, triumphant, simple melody played on a harmonized lead guitar. It sounds like a corporate anthem. It’s catchy, empty, and huge] [Double Chorus - Full Choir Effect The band comes back in, bigger than ever. Layer multiple vocal tracks to sound like a crowd or choir:] HEAR THE SOUND OF THE SELLING OUT! OF THE MARKET-RESEARCHED SHOUT! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! A CONTRACT-MANDATED SPREE! A FIVE-STAR CATACLYSM! A PUBLICIST'S BAPTISM! THIS IS OUR HOLIDAY! OUR HOLIDAY! OUR HOLIDAY FROM INTEGRITY! [Outro instrumental: - The final chord rings out. The militant snare drum from the intro returns, but now it’s sloppy, drunken, falling apart. It speeds up into a chaotic, messy roll that collapses. A final, sloppy cymbal crash. Silence for two beats. Riff: A simple, descending four-note pattern Am - G - F - E), drenched in reverb.]
