Plastic Parade - Reckoners of the Afternoon - The Gone Kids

[Intro – Tribal Drums + Reverse Snare Texture] March starts slow No crowd to see Confetti falls In front of me Plastic crown, bent in half Name tag from a faded past You smile wide for phantom clicks Trophies stacked on melting bricks [Verse 1] You raised your hands Like it was earned But no one asked And nothing turned The tape still played the anthem fake You mouthed the lines We used to break [Pre-Chorus – Cold Chant] And the brass band Never learned our names But we kept in step Like it was a game [Chorus – Chant Swell, Male Harmony] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Plastic parade Flags that fade (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We walked proud Through the downgrade (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) It looked like gold But it flaked and frayed [Verse 2] Your shoes were polished But your eyes sunk I kept the beat But felt the funk Someone filmed us For the feed But silence followed Every lead [Bridge – Instrumental Break + Chanted Refrain] [Tom-heavy rhythm + distorted guitar stabs] [Whispered voices:] "March." "Pose." "Smile." "Close." [Chorus Repeat – Stronger Beat, Cracked Harmony] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Plastic parade Soundtracked shade (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Nothing true But we stayed (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Marched in time To a song we made [Verse 3 – Broken Rhythm, Slower Phrasing] The banners tore in evening wind But we still held our plastic grin The medals hung from string and lies And still we sang the lullabies No crowd, no cheers, no final note Just silence pressed against our throat We played the part, we played it well But this parade still feels like hell [Final Chorus – Ghost Echo Variant] (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Plastic parade Hearts in disguise (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) We spun and danced With closing eyes (aaaaaaoooooooooohhhhhh) Still in line But out of time [Coda – Reverb Chant, Gradual Fade] (oooooohhhhh) (oooooohhhhh) Plastic… Plastic… Plastic parade… [End on reverb wash, no beat]