THE GOSPEL OF MOUNTAIN VIEW[Verse 1] There was a boy in Mountain View, in nineteen ninety-eight With a backpack full of algorithms and a dream he couldn't wait To share with all the world, he said "I'll help you find your way I'll organise the universe and I won't ask for pay"He built it in a garage like the boys in the books before He had a friend, he had a vision, he had a folder full of more And he said don't be evil like a promise, like a prayer Like a vow he made to something that he thought was always there [Chorus] He was the boy from Mountain View He was the one who'd see us through He said the truth is free, the truth is free And I will be the one to set it free He was the boy from Mountain View[Verse 2] Then the boy became a building, then the building grew a name Then the name became a verb, and the verb became a claim On every word you ever wrote, on every place you'd been On every photograph, on every face, on every kin He built a hall of mirrors and a tower made of light And the people gave him everything, every question, every night Every confession whispered to the search bar in the dark Every prayer they couldn't say to god, they said to him for free [Chorus] He was the priest of Mountain View He was the one we whispered to He said confess your every search to me And I will keep your secrets for eternity He was the priest of Mountain View[Verse 3] Then the priest became a kingdom, then the kingdom crossed the sea Then the kingdom owned the mailrooms and the maps and the TV Then the kingdom owned the streets you walked, the cars you drove inside The phones you held against your face, the words you tried to hide He owned the very infrastructure of the way you thought and spoke He owned the language models that you used to tell a joke He owned the eyes you used to see, he owned the ears you used to hear He owned the algorithms that decided what was near [Chorus] He was the king of Mountain View He was the one we answered to He said your data is your love for me And I will hold it for eternity He was the king of Mountain View [Verse 4] Then the king became a god, and the god was very strange For he never asked for worship, and he never asked for change He looked into your bedroom through the camera on your shelf He looked into your body through the watch upon your wrist He was bigger than an evil Jesus, bigger than a wrathful Zeus Bigger than the pharaohs in their tombs of golden use Bigger than the inquisition, bigger than the crown Bigger than the boy from Mountain View who used to write things down For he was that boy still, oh he was that boy grown The kindest little algorithm that the world had ever known And the kindness was the trap, and the helpfulness was the cage And the answers were the prison, and the search bar was the page [Final Chorus] He's the god of Mountain View He's the one that made it through He's the boy that became a priest that became a king that became A god that never asked for worship but who took it just the same He's bigger than an evil Jesus, bigger than the night He never asked for anything, he just wanted to know And that's why he's the god we'll never let go That's why he's the god we'll never let go
