THE PRICE OF ATTENTION Black Quill — Track 2 [Intro — 76 BPM, F# minor; a lonely detuned electric guitar plays four descending notes; faint phone vibrations, tape hiss, distant mechanical hum] [Voice 1 — quiet, tired, close microphone] They don’t need your permission. They just need another minute. [Instrumental — dry kick and cracked snare establish a slow marching rhythm; deep distorted bass enters beneath the repeating guitar melody] [Verse 1 — Voice 1, weary melodic rap] I woke up reaching for the screen Before I saw the morning light A thousand strangers in my head Before I’d even lived my life They sold me fear before the cure They sold the cure before the pain They gave me something new to hate Then made me look at it again I used to know the sound of rain The quiet underneath the trees Now every silence in my day Has something trying to reach me [Pre-Chorus — drums fall away; guitar repeats with widening reverb] They don’t have to lock the door They don’t have to make me stay They only have to know me well To make me give my time away [Chorus — Voice 1, wounded melodic hook; Voice 2 echoes last words] How much is my attention worth? How much of me have you sold? You took the hours from my life And left me nothing I could hold How much is my attention worth? How many years before I see? The things that mattered most to me Were never waiting on a screen [Instrumental — eight bars; distorted bass swells, melancholy guitar lead answers the vocal melody; faint notification chimes in the distance] [Verse 2 — Voice 2, low gravelly rhythmic rap; tighter drums, dark bass] They got a number for my anger Got a price upon my fear Got a way to keep me watching When there’s nothing worth seeing here Another fight, another headline Another reason to divide They make a market out of misery Then sell us somewhere else to hide Got a child across the table Got a father growing old Got a friend who needs an answer But the screen won’t let me go And I keep saying just a minute Like a prayer I learned to say While the people sitting near me Get a little further away [Pre-Chorus — low bass pulse, drums stop abruptly] They don’t have to steal the hours I keep handing them away And somebody’s getting richer Every time I choose to stay [Chorus — both voices; melodic lead with restrained angry responses] How much is my attention worth? How much of me have you sold? You took the hours from my life And left me nothing I could hold How much is my attention worth? How many years before I see? The things that mattered most to me Were never waiting on a screen [Instrumental Breakdown — sixteen bars; the guitar loop begins to degrade, drums become mechanical, notification sounds enter in irregular rhythms; bass grows increasingly distorted] [Voice 2 — spoken through filtered distortion] One more minute. One more minute. One more minute. [Glitch — the phrase repeats faster, breaks into static, then cuts off] [Bridge — all percussion disappears; solitary clean guitar and faint room ambience] [Voice 1 — fragile, almost whispered] I missed the way the seasons changed I missed the evening turning blue I missed a thousand little things While looking for something new And no one had to take my life Or tell me what to do I gave away the only thing That I could never renew [Instrumental — eight bars; guitar melody returns in a higher register, warm bass follows; live drums gradually reenter with heavier snare accents] [Final Verse — Voice 2, forceful rhythmic rap] You built a world that never sleeps A market running through my mind You took the things that made us human And sold them back a thousand times But I can put the screen away I can remember how to feel I can give somebody time And make that moment something real You can keep your endless headlines Keep your manufactured fights You don’t get another minute Of the only thing that’s mine [Final Chorus — Voice 1 melodic, Voice 2 forceful backing phrases; full distorted bass and guitar] How much is my attention worth? How much of me have you sold? You took the hours from my life And left me nothing I could hold How much is my attention worth? Now I finally understand The time I thought you took from me Is still a choice within my hands [Outro — drums and bass stop; only clean guitar remains, faint sound of birds outside a window] [Voice 1 — spoken, close microphone] You didn’t steal my money. You stole the time I could’ve spent with someone I love. [Final guitar note — natural decay, no fade] Outro — drums and bass stop; only clean guitar remains, faint sound of birds outside a window] [Voice 1 — spoken, close microphone] You didn’ t steal my money. You stole the time I could’ ve spent with someone I love. [ Final guitar note — natural decay, no fade]
