WHO’S LAUGHING? [DJ Cold Open — lonely music box, distant room laughter, low sub] Heh… Heh-heh… You hear that? [rapid transformer scratch] (No…) Listen closer. (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) [Band enters — tight live drums, bass, Rhodes, low strings] [Verse 1 — controlled low M.C.C. delivery] Everybody smiling like the punchline’s delivered, But nobody remembers who was talking—go figure. Everybody nodding ’cause somebody else is nodding—tragic. Synchronized opinions dressed as independent logic. Cards up, lights down, watch the room act formal, Everybody acting like conformity is normal. One joke, two grins, three comfortable conclusions, Four people repeating somebody else’s confusion. (Heh-heh…) I hear hesitation hiding underneath the laughter, Watch a confident conclusion turn to questions right after. Watch the room rewrite the rules before admitting what happened, Then call the contradiction complicated when I catch it. Funny thing about a pattern once you finally see the thread— Everybody calls it random till you map where it led. Then they call you paranoid for remembering what they said, Right until the same damn sequence circles back again. [hard cut] There it is. [rapid transformer scratch] (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) (Ha-ha-HAH | ha-ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH-ha-ha | HAH-ha-HAH) [Chorus — clipped four-word tech-house phrasing] Everybody keeps on laughing. Nobody knows exactly why. Everybody looks completely normal. Everybody swears they’re fine. Can’t stop hearing laughter. Can’t shut down sound. Who keeps laughing with me? Who is laughing now? (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) [Verse 2 — immediate rapid precision flow] Shuffle the premise, cut the conclusion, Deal me the contradiction. Mark every card with a comfortable lie And call it intuition. Raise on assumption, bluff on consensus, Fold when the facts become inconvenience. Everybody swears the table is fair Till somebody learns how to read the player. (You noticed.) Oh, I noticed. Shuffle the wording, alter the borders, Move every marker the moment I’m scoring. Change the definition, claim it was given, Then act offended when somebody’s listening. Who wrote the standard? Who checked the checker? Who measured the pressure? Who chose the measure? Who built the cage, Then printed the manual, Called every lock Completely factual? Who made the rules? (They did.) Who found the holes? (You did.) Who looks surprised When somebody actually Learns how the system Gets used and misused? [beat juggle] [hard cut] There it is. [rapid transformer scratch] (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) (Ha-ha-HAH | ha-ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH-ha-ha | HAH-ha-HAH) [Chorus — harder] Everybody keeps on laughing. Nobody knows exactly why. Everybody looks completely normal. Everybody swears they’re fine. Who keeps moving markers? Who keeps moving lines? Who keeps laughing somewhere? Was that laughter mine? (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) [Bridge — band disappears, music box and low sub] Heh… (Heh…) Funny. You stare long enough, The pattern starts staring back. (I know…) No. I wasn’t talking to you. They draw the line, I wanna know who drew it. (The line moved.) Stop that. They change the wording— (The answer didn’t.) I know. (I know.) I said I know. … That’s not funny. (You’re laughing.) No I’m not. (Heh.) Stop. (You started this.) I said stop. [music box skips] Did the joke change… Or did I? (I know.) What do you know? (You know.) No one’s laughing. (Not anymore.) Then who the hell is that? [distant laughter] (Us.) … No. [single laugh] Heh. [Final Chorus — full band crashes back] [rapid transformer scratch] (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) (Ha-ha-HAH | ha-ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH-ha-ha | HAH-ha-HAH) Everybody keeps on laughing. Nobody knows exactly why. Everybody looks completely normal. Something doesn’t feel right. Who keeps laughing somewhere? Who keeps keeping time? Who else is here? Was that voice mine? (Ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH) (Ha-ha-HAH | ha-ha-HAH) (Ha-HAH-ha-ha | HAH-ha-HAH) WHO’S— (WE ARE.) STILL— LAUGHING?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! [transformer scratch] HA—HAH! HA—HAH! [everything stops] Heh. [Outro — music box alone] You thought I lost the plot. Nah. I found it. See… You… Next… Set… (Ha…) [Silence]
0/500