Performative Bushido

[Intro - spoken, reverberant, ritualistic] Before the code, there was hunger. Before the honor... there was rice unpaid. [Verse 1 - operatic soprano, sparse strings] They dressed the armor of a founder long since turned to dust Kept it gleaming like a promise, kept it polished out of trust But underneath the lacquer there's a hollow drum that beats For every son who begged for mercy kneeling in the streets [Pre-Chorus - choir building] Bamboo where the steel should be A blade of straw, a bent-knee plea Autumn wind and camellia red Falling like a severed thread [Chorus - full orchestra, choir, dramatic] Courtyard of camellias, watch the petals fall Every code they wrote in blood was never code at all Stone floor drinks the silence where a father knelt to die Bamboo in his hand, and steel it never justified [Verse 2 - lower register, tense, spoken-sung] Two swords sold for medicine, a wife too weak to rise A child's cough at midnight louder than a thousand lies They called it want of honor, called it a stain upon the name But hunger wears no crest, and poverty feels no shame [Pre-Chorus] Bamboo where the steel should be A blade of straw, a bent-knee plea Autumn wind and camellia red Falling like a severed thread [Chorus] Courtyard of camellias, watch the petals fall Every code they wrote in blood was never code at all Stone floor drinks the silence where a father knelt to die Bamboo in his hand, and steel it never justified [Bridge - industrial electronic breakdown, distorted, dynamic shift] Cut the topknot, lay it at the gate Let them see the mirror they mistake for fate Every crest and banner, every painted lie Bleeds the same color when you ask them why [Instrumental - orchestra and choir crescendo build] [Final Chorus - massive, all voices layered] Courtyard of camellias, let the whole house fall Every code they wrote in blood was never code at all I came for their forgiveness, I leave with none to give Stone remembers everyone who begged for leave to live [Outro - solo voice, fading, sparse strings] Before the code, there was hunger Before the honor... only rice unpaid... [End]