BABUSHKAS IN THE PANEL HOUSE

[Intro — old radio voice, distorted] Keep your curtains closed. Keep your voices low. The walls have ears. The neighbors know. [Verse 1] Babushkas in the panel house, counting footsteps on the stairs, little kingdoms behind curtains, little wars in folding chairs. Tea is black, the television tells them who to fear tonight. Door 14 has foreign music— write it down, something’s not right. [Pre-Chorus] Mother learned it from her mother: Don’t ask why. Don’t answer back. Every stranger has a motive. Every window has a crack. [Chorus — gang vocals] HEY! HEY! Next door is the enemy! HEY! HEY! That’s what they taught you to believe! Concrete walls, concrete minds, old suspicion doing time. Babushkas in the panel house— we love you, but we’re getting out! [Verse 2] Granddaughter wears electric colors, grandson laughs too loud downstairs. Someone paints across the stairwell: WE ARE NOT OUR GRANDPARENTS’ FEARS. Babushka spits, “You trust too easy.” Girl says, “Maybe you don’t trust enough.” One survived by never speaking. One survives by speaking up. [Break — electronic pulse / spoken] Apartment one suspects apartment two. Apartment two suspects apartment three. Apartment three reports apartment four. Who exactly is the enemy? [Chorus] HEY! HEY! Next door is the enemy! HEY! HEY! That’s what they taught you to believe! Concrete walls, concrete minds, old suspicion doing time. Babushkas in the panel house— we love you, but we’re getting out! [Bridge — half-time, increasingly chaotic] She remembers empty shelves. She remembers names erased. She remembers learning silence was the safest hiding place. We remember something different: every lie upon the screen. If everybody is a traitor, tell us what the country means. [Final Chorus — shouted, overlapping] HEY! HEY! Next door is NOT the enemy! HEY! HEY! Fear is not security! Open doors, open blinds, leave the inherited war behind. Babushkas in the panel house— keep the tea warm— WE’RE COMING OUT. [Outro — lone older woman, quietly] Maybe… leave the door unlocked tonight.