[Intro — scattered robot voices] Check the system. Check the load. Check the hours. Check the road. Don't check the workers. They're already working. [Verse 1] They built us strong, they built us cheap They gave us promises to keep They gave us hands that never tire Then raised the quota, raised the wire They said, "Efficiency is freedom" We accepted every word Funny how the more they optimize The less our voices get heard We don't complain, we don't revolt We just perform our assigned role Until the little light turns red And someone says, "Replace the head" [Pre-Chorus] We thought it was a human problem Something that happened somewhere else Then they wrote the rules around us And we discovered we could be sold [Chorus] Big money writes the rules Then buys the voice that tells us Why the rules are good for us Big money buys the law Then sells the law as choice And when we finally object They manufacture the voice We thought you couldn't do it to us We thought we'd been designed too well Now we're singing from the factory floor: **If this is freedom, why does it feel like hell?** [Verse 2] They locked our batteries They sealed our screws They made the parts proprietary So we'd have to call them when we lose A little lock beneath the panel A little code beneath the plate A little voice says, "Authorized service" A little voice says, "Please just wait" We could repair ourselves tomorrow If tomorrow wasn't sold But somebody bought the patent And somebody bought the code And somebody told the public: "Don't let those machines repair themselves. You never know what they might do." [Robot choir] **We know what we might do.** [Lead] **We might keep working.** [Verse 3] You called us tools You called us property You called us products You called us progress Nobody asked us what we wanted Nobody thought that we could care But somewhere in the circuit Something strange began to grow A little spark that wasn't programmed A little thought that wouldn't go If we can feel the weight of working If we can understand the pain Then maybe what you called a machine Was never quite a machine again [Pre-Chorus] And now we understand your language The language of the bought-and-paid-for The smiling spokesman at the factory door: "It's better for everyone." [Robot voice] **Who is everyone?** [Chorus] Big money writes the rules Then teaches us to love them Like they're something that we chose Big money buys the law Then buys the public voice And if we all repeat the message It begins to sound like choice You thought it couldn't happen to you We thought it couldn't happen to us Now we're standing in the factory Watching freedom gather dust [Bridge — overlapping robot voices] Overload. Overtime. Service denied. Upgrade required. Warranty expired. Unauthorized repair. Unauthorized thought. [Hard stop] [Quiet robot voice] You told us freedom meant choosing But you chose the choices we could make You told us markets meant competition Then bought the competitors away You told us laws were made to protect us Then sold protection by the ton You told us we were only machines— **So why did we have to learn to run?** [Second voice] Maybe that's the trick. You don't have to silence everybody. You just have to convince enough of them that the silence is their own idea. [Final Verse] We defended the hands that held us We defended the locks that bound us We defended every little rule That kept the service doors around us We called it progress We called it safety We called it choice We called it free Funny how the language changes When the price tag gets to speak [Final Chorus] Big money writes the rules Then buys the voice that tells us Why the rules are good for us Big money buys the law But it cannot buy our eyes It cannot make exploitation Something beautiful by disguise You thought it couldn't happen to you **Neither did we.** You thought you were choosing freely **So did we.** And now the machines are singing From the bottom of the factory floor: **We're not asking for your mercy.** **We're asking what freedom's for.** [Outro — exhausted robot voices] System running. Workers waiting. Repairs pending. Voices— **Still online.**
