[Intro – dusty vinyl crackle, distant ship horn, Rhodes jazz chords, offbeat ska guitar] Tick-tock, big clock Heavy boots on a little dock One more tower, one more wall Tell me, captain, can you move at all? (Brass: wah—bah, wah—bah) [Verse 1 – laid-back blues vocal, walking bass, syncopated ska rhythm] Built a giant out of steel Made it bigger just to feel Like the ocean had to bow To the weight we’re carrying now Forty thousand little rules Hundred thousand golden tools Every bolt has got a name Every name protects the game [Pre-Chorus – rising analog arpeggio, snare ghost notes] More power, less motion More numbers, less notion More people in the room But nobody sees the moon [Chorus – swinging ska brass, driving lo-fi techno groove] Lost flagship model! Too big to turn around Lost flagship model! Too proud to touch the ground Heavy is the crown Heavy is the sound You built yourself a kingdom That can’t even move around Oh, flagship model Where did your future go? [Instrumental Break – trombone riff, blues guitar fills, dub echoes] (Skank! Skank!) (Doo-bah, doo-bah!) [Verse 2 – stripped electronic drums, smoky spoken blues delivery] Put another engine in Call the extra weight a win Hire someone to supervise All the people hired to optimize Make a chart to prove you’re fast Make a plan to save the past Everybody gets a chair Nobody can steer from there A little boat slips through the night No golden flag, no flashing light While the giant counts its guns The little boat has come and gone [Pre-Chorus 2 – bass grows distorted, dissonant jazz piano] More control, less direction More defense, less protection Bigger muscles, slower feet Can’t outrun your own heartbeat [Chorus – full brass harmony, blues vocal ad-libs] Lost flagship model! Too big to turn around Lost flagship model! Too proud to touch the ground Heavy is the crown Heavy is the sound You built yourself a kingdom That can’t even move around Oh, flagship model The tide won’t wait for you [Progressive Bridge – shifting 7/8 and 4/4, psychedelic techno percussion, modal jazz improvisation] Bigger, bigger, bigger still Build another iron hill Faster, faster, so they say Why’s the little one miles away? (Spoken, dry and amused) “Maximum capacity.” “Maximum authority.” “Maximum security.” Minimum agility. (Silence – one rimshot) Heh. [Instrumental Climax – distorted synth bass, aggressive ska brass stabs, blues saxophone solo, layered polyrhythms] [Breakdown – only upright bass, brushed snare, muted trumpet] You can own the whole blue sea But you can’t make the water freeze You can make the biggest wave Still can’t tell it how to behave [Final Chorus – euphoric ska-jazz fusion, expanding harmony, then instruments peel away] Lost flagship model! All that power, nowhere to go Lost flagship model! The smallest ships are passing slow No need for a bigger crown No need to drag the whole world down You called it evolution While your feet were sinking down Lost flagship model! Too big to turn around Lost flagship model! Too proud to touch the ground [Outro – techno kick disappears, light ska guitar and upright bass remain, warm tape flutter] Small steps, long way Less to carry every day No golden throne, no iron wall Funny how the smallest Doesn’t have to fall (Soft trumpet: wah—wah) The ocean never cared How big you were at all. [End – vinyl stop]
