[Verse 1] We built a house on credit and sand Paper crowns in a trembling hand Flags on the porches Screens in our rooms Shopping for comfort Sleeping through doom [Pre-Chorus] Who’s cashing in on every fight? Who’s selling fear each sleepless night? Names in the shadows We just see smoke Argue in circles till the center breaks and chokes [Chorus] Ashes of an empire Drifting in our lungs We sing the anthem softer now Too tired to bite our tongues History keeps asking How long can this survive? Ashes of an empire While we’re pretending it’s alive [Verse 2] Highways cracked But the markets soar Golden charts on a rusted floor Preachers on channels Profits in suits Telling us mercy’s bad for the loot [Pre-Chorus] Who pulls the strings behind the screens? Who writes the lines for all our dreams? Easy to point at some distant name Harder to own our piece of the blame [Chorus] [Bridge] It’s not one hand It’s a million small surrenders Every time we trade a neighbor for a headline For a vendor Every time we choose a story that confirms what we believe Instead of looking in the mirror at the hunger underneath [Chorus]
