European Static

(Verse 1 Yeah Another morning, coffee's black, the sky is grey Flip the screen on, watch another world decay Got my nine-to-five, got my bills to pay While a thousand miles south, they're living judgment day Headlines bleeding, doom-scroll feeding the machine Another tank, another town, another graphic scene And we "stand with them," change the profile pic to blue and yellow While the ground beneath my feet feels increasingly hollow It’s a proxy war, a media tour, a f**king TV show And the anchor's smiling while the seeds of terror grow Right next door, just a border or two away The beast of history is out and it wants to play. Pre-Chorus I feel the tremor under cobblestone and concrete Hear the whispers of the fallout on my own damn street They say "it won't reach us," they say "we're safe and sound" But the static's getting louder as the silence breaks down. Chorus So we watch the borders burn from a plasma screen Living in the horror of the safe in-between And my heart beats like a war drum, a frantic, panicked pace Is this collateral comfort just time and a place We're holding our breath, and we're praying it's contained While a shadow's falling over us, blood-red and stained. Verse 2 Check it Politicians posturing, a photogenic frown Drawing new red lines on the other side of town Sending thoughts and prayers packed with artillery shells Ringing freedom's bells from their comfortable hells They're playing 4D chess on a board of unmarked graves Forgetting all the promises and the lives they'll never save And the energy prices are the topic of the day Does it cost too much to look the other way The fear is a product, they sell it on the news A generation raised on anxiety and short fuses Normalizing nightmares, one soundbite at a time While I'm wondering if my own peace is the next real crime. Pre-Chorus I feel the pressure building up along the fault line Is your neighbor's burning house not a warning sign They say "don't you panic," they say "we've got control" But I see the creeping sickness that's devouring the soul. Chorus So we watch the borders burn from a plasma screen Living in the horror of the safe in-between And my heart beats like a war drum, a frantic, panicked pace Is this collateral comfort just time and a place We're holding our breath, and we're praying it's contained While a shadow's falling over us, blood-red and stained. Bridge What if the sirens started singing here What if the "over there" became the "over here" Every flicker of the lights, every jet sound in the sky Is it just my paranoia or a pre-emptive goodbye. Breakdown No shelter from the echo No escape from the glow History repeats the sins you sow Tear it all down The western crown is rusting In god and bombs you're trusting This is the great unraveling Fear is the new faith. Chorus (Final) We watch the borders burn from a plasma screen Living in the horror of the safe in-between And my heart beats like a war drum, a frantic, panicked pace This collateral comfort is gone without a trace We're choking on our breath, knowing nothing is contained While the shadow is upon us, blood-red and unchained. Outro The static is all that's left.