[Intro — TV murmurs, remote clicks] Same couch. Same screen. “After the break.” [Click] Weather. Ads. Same mother waiting. [TV off; piano] I can change the channel. She can’t. [Drums enter] [Verse 1] Mountains in the photograph. Smile beside an open road. Strangers checking every background, Tracing where the shadows go. Screens became a search party. Everybody chased a lead. Good—keep looking. That’s somebody’s child we need. She deserved the helicopters, Every tip and every hour. Don’t confuse me asking “both” With asking you to cut her power. Then a mother by the coastline Held a picture to her chest. Same fingers round the edges. Different questions from the press. One gets “What can people do?” One gets “What was he doing there?” Funny how a missing person Gets tried in an empty chair. [Pre-Hook] Nobody’s grief is taking turns. Nobody’s child is second place. Why’s compassion need a casting call? Who decides the leading face? [Hook — melodic doubles] More light, more light Who gets left outside? Same flame, same night Why we gotta fight for light? Hold that face Hold that frame Don’t let the picture fade Before you learn the name [Post-Hook] Lights out? Not yet. Somebody’s waiting Where the cameras left. Lights out? Not yet. You changed the channel. They can’t forget. [Instrumental — 8 bars] [Verse 2] Eighteen. Future tense. Now his mother speaks in dates. Water brought his body back. Answers haven’t found their way. Findings read. Family asks why. Let the record hold both voices. Don’t crop context for engagement. Talk of federal eyes— A request is not review. Promises can fill a broadcast. Who checks what they actually do? [Cadence tightens] Close the folder, call it closure— Different kinds of ending. “Nothing further” from a podium Doesn’t stop a parent checking. Won’t turn a question mark Into a weapon with a name. But scrutiny shouldn’t need Strangers sharing someone’s pain. Keep the record. Keep the standard. Let the evidence lead. Not the face. Not the ratings. Not the side that wants a feed. [Hook] More light, more light Who gets left outside? Same flame, same night Why we gotta fight for light? Hold that face Hold that frame Don’t let the picture fade Before you learn the name [Post-Hook] Lights out? Not yet. Somebody’s waiting Where the cameras left. Lights out? Not yet. You changed the channel. They can’t forget. [Instrumental — 8 bars] [Verse 3 — loose pocket] California, after midnight. Shift is over. Empty drive. Brothers hold a sister’s picture Where the latest headline slides. Passing round a funding link To buy more searching time. When public interest needs donations, Who gets priced out of being found? One buys billboards. One prints flyers. Neither wants a show. Missing isn’t entertainment. Why’s the packaging decide who knows? Brown girl, Black boy, Native daughter off the road— Different stories. Equal urgency owed. Jurisdiction changes hands. Mother keeps the same phone. Lines divide an office map. Grief follows her home. Red dress waiting on a hanger. Flyer fading in the rain. We can name the nation’s landmarks. Who is missing from the frame? [Beat Switch — 8 bars] [Jazz piano, brass, fresh bass] [Verse 4 — nimble] One girl: “Could’ve been your daughter.” Next girl: questions ’bout her past. One boy: check the company. Then the clothes. Then facts come last. Who gets childhood in the caption? Who gets grown before their time? Who gets “bright young future”? Who gets footnotes before facts arrive? Same press, different pressure. Same loss, different reach. One story leads the bulletin. One family begs to speak. Prime time. Borrowed time. Who can spare a second? Breaking news can break a family When the break becomes forgetting. Don’t put guilt inside a guess. Don’t make grief your merchandise. Need a number that gets answered, Not suspense they monetize. [Bridge — exposed piano] She deserved every searchlight. He deserved each careful step. These aren’t rival empty bedrooms. There’s no trophy for who wept. Let the families keep their differences. Let the work keep equal care. Don’t make a mother sell her sorrow Just to get somebody there. [Build — drums gather] Same flame. Same oxygen. Different skin beneath the sun. If the photograph changed color, Would the whole room still get up? [Silence] Hold both high. [Final Hook] More light, more light Bring the outside into sight Same flame, same night We shouldn’t have to fight for light Hold that face Widen the frame There’s room inside the picture For another name [Final Post-Hook] Lights out? Not yet. Leave a little light Where the cameras left. Lights out? Not yet. You changed the channel. They can’t forget. [Outro] Two porch lights. Neither sleeps. [Instrumental Outro — 24 bars] [Piano, bass and strings] [Drums fall away; harmony resolves] [Natural decay] [End]
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