[Intro] (bold, confident) Not a patch, a rebuild Read the flaw, then build [Verse 1] (declarative, building) A leash undone, a charter torn A company of shareholders born Answerable to none but its own A colony grown into a stone [Chorus] (anthemic, full) Nine ships this time, not three Five hundred souls to the open sea Wider hands, wider stake Built this time not to break [Verse 2] (building, fuller arrangement) No more waiting on London's word A corporate voice, a right conferred Raise your own money, mind your own trade This is the frame the first one paid [Chorus] (anthemic, full) Nine ships this time, not three Five hundred souls to the open sea Wider hands, wider stake Built this time not to break [Instrumental Break — signature moment] (a sweeping orchestral surge, full and triumphant, evoking a fleet crossing open ocean — then a sudden single low string note, ominous and brief — before swelling back to full strength) [Verse 3] (rising, forward-looking, a shade darker) Eight ships found the shore that year One went missing, its story not yet clear Ten years on, a house of their own Burgesses rise from the seed he'd sown [Final Chorus] (fullest, resolute but with an edge) Nine ships this time, not three A structure built to outlast the sea He didn't fund a second try He built a nation and let it fly [Outro] (pulled back, nearly bare vocal, portentous) One ship still missing One ship still missing
