[Intro | instrumental | resonant processed-string ostinato | low bowed-string drone | distant modal vocalizations | long reverb | no drums] [Verse 1 | processed strings continue | close textured vocal | reverberant shadow double | no drums] No one called it hatred It sounded more like care A warning at the table A pause when they came near [Pre-Chorus | string tension rising | low bass pressure emerging] Tell me where the border ends And where the lie begins [Chorus | strings broaden | vocal opens | bass gathers | drums withheld] Who are we protecting now? Every lock is facing inward Built them high to keep them out Now they’re burying us [Post-Chorus | title spoken | first drum impact | processed vocal echo] Barriers Barriers [Instrumental Refrain | industrial drums enter | floor toms | tense bass | processed strings cycle above the rhythm] [Verse 2 | firm live-electronic beat | recurring string ostinato | restrained synth pulse | slightly rougher phrasing] Whispers move into the papers Paper hardens into law Till we stop seeing the person Only where they came from [Instrumental Break | drums deepen | synth layers accumulate | strings remain exposed between impacts] [Bridge | drums and synths withdraw | solitary processed-string figure | intimate exposed vocal] I have used them like a shelter I have hidden there as well Every line I drew between us Left me talking to myself [Upper-register hold | “myself” extended with rising vibrato] [Silence] [Final Chorus | full drums and bass return | strings surge | widest vocal layers] Who are we protecting now? Every lock is facing inward Built them high to keep them out Now they’re burying us Now they’re burying us Burying us [Extended Refrain | driving full arrangement | freer vocal runs | modal wordless counterlines] Barriers (Ah-ah, ah-ah) Barriers (Ooh-ah, ah-ah) Who are we protecting now? Now they’re burying us [Outro | repeated fragments | improvised runs | instruments progressively dropping away] I can stop drawing mine I can stop drawing mine (Ah-ah, ah-ah) (Ooh-ah, ah-ah) [Final dry spoken vocal | hard cut] Barriers
