[Verse 1] Forty-seven kids in the summer heat Learning how to measure what they’ll never beat South Side skyline, July sweatshine Six weeks chasing someone else’s deadline Alex’s got a pH kit in his bag Maya’s Boolean-lacing every tag Casey’s quoting Kant about the moral cost of meat As they wander down the block for something cheap to eat Matt’s Meat Market, linoleum floor Third-generation legend by the sliding door Cash only sign and a “no substitutions” glare He says, “You want lunch or philosophy? I only sell one here.” [Pre-Chorus] But the code was running, the qubits spun Three Northwest kids, one bad idea for fun Somewhere in the basement, a lab machine sighed And the universe blinked when she hit “ENTER” and tried [Chorus] Now it’s there / now it’s gone Italian beef in a quantum superposition song TRUE and FALSE on a Turano roll Half a mayor, half a miracle, whole damn soul You can taste it / you can’t prove Every time you look, the universe has to choose Lunch or legend, bite or breath Schrödinger’s sandwich laughing at death [Verse 2] Maya types, “IF bread AND meat AND mustard then” “SANDWICH equals TRUE,” simple logic, case closed, amen Alex leans in with his meter, chasing pH dreams Casey’s preaching ethics to the deli machine She adds a little joke: “IF TRUE AND FALSE then UNCERTAIN” Somewhere in the quantum lab, they feel the curtain Ripple like grease smoke in a summer fan And Matt’s hand falls straight through the bread in his hand The beef starts flickering, more meat, less meat Triple provolone, no cheese, vegan on repeat Pickles come and go like a radio station Every blink another universe’s lunch rotation [Pre-Chorus] QR codes blooming in the fluorescent light Whispered little barcodes in black and white “I AM AND AM NOT,” hanging in the air And “ELECT ME MAYOR” over by the slicer chair [Chorus] Now it’s there …. now it’s gone Italian beef in a quantum superposition song TRUE and FALSE on a Turano roll Half a mayor, half a miracle, whole damn soul You can taste it …. you can’t prove Every time you look, the universe has to choose Lunch or legend, bite or breath Schrödinger’s sandwich laughing at death [Verse 3] Twelve fifty-six, reality trips Five pH meters bloom in Alex’s grip Each reading different on the same house sauce Maya’s laptop chanting, logic double-crossed “EXISTS AND DOESN’T,” “MAYOR EQUAL MEAT” Error spilling down like confetti at their feet Casey whispers, “We have birthed a ghost of bread” The sandwich answers in a Kantian PDF instead Customers holding things they never ordered yet “Did I pick ham? Did I pick regret?” Tenses melt down in the line by the door Matt screams, “You three broke my grandfather’s floor.” [Pre-Chorus] Campus cops arrive; they see nothing at all In this branch of the timeline, it’s just a lunch stall But Dr. Chen walks in with that knowing stare Says, “You kids built a macro quantum engine in here somewhere.” [Chorus] Now it’s there … now it’s gone Italian beef in a quantum superposition song TRUE and FALSE on a Turano roll Half a mayor, half a miracle, whole damn soul You can taste it … you can’t prove Every time you look, the universe has to choose Lunch or legend, bite or breath Schrödinger’s sandwich laughing at death [Bridge – The Sandwich Speaks] I am your worker’s value index Your unpaid intern in the phase space annex I am all your orders that you never made The tip jar rattling in the uncollapsed wave “QUANTUM MEAT JUSTICE,” read the code “PROBABILISTIC RIGHTS ON A CHICAGO ROAD” I exist in every branch where you take that bite In at least one world, kid, you did something right Hire the ones who shine past fear Shift the branch where they persevere I am manager, mayor, merit machine I’m the lunch rush ripple in your mid-July scene [Final Chorus] Now I’m there / now I’m gone Patron saint of the working noon-to-dawn TRUE and FALSE in a human town Holding all your choices when the chips go down You can change it / you can’t know Which thread of the future’s gonna actually grow Code or conscience, chance or grace I’m the sandwich smiling in super-space [Outro] Alex learned that not all systems yield To tidy lab notes or a force-field Maya found a shade between YES and NO Casey found a ghost in the ethical code And in a meat market humming by the El line’s roar There’s a sandwich in the office by the walk-in door Sending flicker-words to an underground lab’s screen: “THANK YOU,” blinking in and out like a half-remembered dream You order your lunch, think it’s just some beef But the universe shifts by a paper-thin leaf Somewhere a kid with a laptop sighs And a quantum roll watches with a thousand eyes
