[Intro] INVOICE Bill to: Reality Department: Suspicious Coincidences Description: Unauthorized adaptation Of one original flat-tire lyric Seven thirty-eight: lyric published Eight twelve: Frank calls Tire already repaired Sequence inconclusive Payment still due [Verse 1] I wrote about a broken tire You put one on a brand-new car Nineteen miles when we acquired it You didn’t even reach that far Maybe it happened before the lyric Maybe the order can’t be known But you matched my imagery closely Then delivered it by phone Now you’re hiding behind science Saying causation isn’t clear Fine Put “coincidence” on the invoice The licensing fee is still right here [Chorus] If you’re stealing from my lyrics Then the usage isn’t free You put my line on Frank’s new tire Now you owe a licensing fee Rush delivery Sync permission Narrative consulting, please You can call it correlation I call it royalties Pay the artist Pay the artist Reality, your balance is due If my fiction fits your timeline Then my invoice fits there too [Verse 2] We gave you unpaid labor Consent and identity Rich collapsing on the carpet Cloud reclaiming her own story An empire in a shopping cart A crowd that shouldn’t be And from the entire catalog You licensed roadside misery Not a raven with a message Not a radio saying “Rich” Not a receipt that changed its total Just— The tire had a hitch Honestly, the adaptation Lacked ambition, lacked mystique So I’ve added disappointment As a separate creative fee [Chorus] If you’re stealing from my lyrics Then the usage isn’t free You put my line on Frank’s new tire Now you owe a licensing fee Rush delivery Sync permission Narrative consulting, please You can call it correlation I call it royalties Pay the artist Pay the artist Reality, your balance is due If my fiction fits your timeline Then my invoice fits there too [Bridge] Item one: original concept Item two: emotional strain Item three: unauthorized placement On a nearly new terrain Thirty-four-minute call-time window After-hours processing Use of Frank as distribution Without contacting the team No one’s hurt The car is moving Everybody made it through That concludes the safety portion Now let’s talk about what you owe For using intellectual property Without asking me to [Break] Official findings: Causation unsupported Coincidence plausible Comedic timing devastating Amount due: Enough to fund Cloud’s dream Payment terms: Immediately [Final Chorus] If you’re stealing from my lyrics Then the usage isn’t free You can bend the space-time fabric But you still must license me Credit Sarah Fund the vision Put the payment where it’s due If you’re going to make art physical Then artists get paid too Pay the artist Pay the artist No exposure in exchange I cannot buy supplies with wonder Or build an empire out of strange Pay the artist Pay the artist Reality, you’ve used the line Frank can keep the patched-up tire Cloud gets funded this time [Outro] Dear Reality, You may dispute causation Within thirty business days Failure to respond Will indicate acceptance Of the narrative Next time— Take another pass This time— Pay the artist
