Shockwave

[Intro – soft piano, balcony stage setting] [Male] We signed the line, held the keys Thought we found our equity Now the papers pile like leaves And the calls don’t stop at three [Verse 1 – Alternating lines] [Female] I lost three sales in just one week The phones went cold, my voice feels weak [Male] Demand collapsed like it never was Confidence fell, and so did trust [Female] They cut my hours, the office froze Now I wear this suit for show [Male] Tried to spend to spark the flame But all I felt was guilt and shame [Pre-Chorus – both building harmonies] [Female] Aggregate demand shifted left in the rain [Male] Firms held back, too much short-run pain [Both] Output fell, and jobs withdrew And the life we planned just won’t come through [Chorus – full harmonies with backing ensemble] [Both] It was a shockwave—straight through the curve A sudden collapse we didn’t deserve AD down, and AS still Sticky prices, frozen will Now we’re living in a gap we can’t explain— Below full employment, above the strain And all we feel is the shock, the fall When demand’s too small to hold it all [Verse 2 – trading lines] [Male] I used to chart our monthly plans Now I chart decline in demand [Female] We delayed, we canceled, we clipped our wings Even when the Fed did things [Male] They cut the rate, tried stimulus calls But fear’s a curtain that never falls [Female] The multiplier shrank in fear As households pulled their spending near [Pre-Chorus – renewed harmonies] [Male] The price stayed high, but wages low [Female] No one spending, nowhere to go [Both] Inventories piled, layoffs grew And the slope got steeper than we ever knew [Chorus – stronger, emotionally full] [Both] It was a shockwave—no time to run Negative growth beneath the sun AD down, real GDP Below potential, can’t break free Now we’re standing in a world that won’t reply— No full employment, just reasons why And all we feel is the fade, the stall When the curve won’t lift at all [Bridge – slowed down, soft orchestration] [Male] If spending’s power, why did we fall? We tried to boost—but heard no call [Female] I traced the model with trembling hands But graphs can’t fix when no one stands [Final Chorus – orchestral swell, final duet] [Both] It was a shockwave—through our plans Shifting curves we couldn’t withstand Long-run lines we’ll never meet In a model incomplete And though we once drew rising lines in chalk— The real world broke beneath our walk It’s more than math—it’s rise and fall It’s the shock we feel when demand can’t call [Outro – solo piano] [Male] They told us markets move toward peace… [Female] But no one said what happens in the crease.