[Intro: short low industrial pulse, no vocals] [Verse 1: low spoken-sung, dry, restrained] We built a world around the now Reward the quick, forget the long We measure worth by what arrives Before the next day comes along The ones who come after us Are left outside the frame If they have no voice today We act like they have no claim [Pre-Chorus 1: tense melodic speech, rising pressure] But absence is not emptiness And silence is not consent Some choices keep on moving Long after we have left We are temporary But what we do can stay What we choose together Can keep moving on [Chorus: gritty clean vocal, heavy, declarative] Consequences outlive us Some choices don’t end today We become ancestors Through what we leave behind Consequences outlive us The ones not here still count The future isn’t empty Someone has to live with it [Verse 2: dark spoken-sung, more human, restrained] We give the present all the weight Because it has a face and name But lives that have not started yet Are still at stake in what we choose They cannot ask us to be fair They cannot refuse what we allow But what we make possible Will be the world they find [Pre-Chorus 2: tense spoken-shout, dry, building] No one is there to stop us So we call it ours No one is there to answer So we leave the future out That’s how the short term wins Not with evil, but with ease We know the mark can carry on And still we look away [Chorus: heavier gritty clean vocal] Consequences outlive us Some choices don’t end today We become ancestors Through what we leave behind Consequences outlive us The ones not here still count The future isn’t empty Someone has to live with it [Bridge / Breakdown: dry shouted chant, half-time, no heroism] We do not get to look away And still call it innocence We do not get to use the now Like no one inherits it The present isn’t ours alone The absent still count No applause, no thanks Still responsibility [Final Chorus: widest, heavy, grave, not triumphant] Consequences outlive us Some choices don’t end today We become ancestors Through what we leave behind Consequences outlive us The present isn’t ours alone The future isn’t empty Someone has to live with it [Outro: low spoken, sparse, sober] We are temporary But what we do can stay The hand is gone The mark remains [End]
