Intro They said the system made the world safer. Cleaner. More efficient. Nobody asked what happens… when your number falls too low. ⸻ Verse 1 – The Number I got a number where my name used to be A barcode breathing where a soul used to be Every door got a scanner at the frame Before it opens it decides if you came Green light people walking smooth through the gate Phones in their hands like permission from fate But mine flashes red before the screen even loads Like the city already knows I tried buying bread at the market last week Terminal beeped and the clerk wouldn’t speak Just pointed quietly to a sign on the wall “Score too low — service denied to them all” Everybody stared but nobody complained Like they were watching weather instead of a man I walked out hungry through the automated street Another ghost the system won’t feed ⸻ Hook I’m living below the threshold Where the cameras don’t blink but the people won’t look Every door got a number, every life got a rank And the bottom of the ladder’s where they bury the blanks They say the system makes us safer They say the system makes us free But the only thing a low score makes Is a shadow out of me ⸻ Verse 2 – The Score It started small — late taxes and a fine Questioned a policy one too many times Posted a thought they didn’t want online Watched the numbers slowly decline First they locked the trains and the airline seats Then the banks froze access to my receipts Then the landlord said the lease couldn’t stay “Your civic rating’s too low to pay” Now the city map got zones I can’t cross Digital borders for the social loss My phone lights up when I pass through a square Warning everyone that I’m there Kids at the school point when I walk past Teachers look down like the moment won’t last Parents whisper like I’m carrying disease All because my score disagrees ⸻ Hook I’m living below the threshold Where the cameras see more than the neighbors do Where the screens decide if your voice exists Or erase the things you knew They say the system makes us equal They say the rules apply to all But equality disappears When the number starts to fall ⸻ Verse 3 – The Compliant World People move smooth in their perfectly scored lives Posting good deeds for the algorithm’s eyes Helping old ladies across the street Just so the rating climbs another degree Every smile feels rehearsed for the feed Every opinion filtered carefully No one speaks unless the system agrees Silence earns stability Restaurants full of the green-light class Laughing like nothing’s wrong with the math They glance at my wrist when the scanner complains Then look away fast They say “If you followed the rules you’d be fine” Like the rules don’t shift all the time Like a man can’t slip through the cracks of a code Written by ghosts on a throne ⸻ Hook I’m living below the threshold Where the outcasts gather after the dark Where the cameras lose signal underground And the system loses its mark They say we’re dangerous people But we’re just the ones who fell Through the cracks of a perfect world Built like a digital cell ⸻ Verse 4 – The Underground Under the city the forgotten remain People with numbers too low for the frame Doctors, teachers, workers and thieves All exiled by degrees One man lost everything over a joke One woman vanished after a vote One kid hacked the system to see the code And never came home We pass around radios older than time Paper books like forbidden wine Stories of when a name was enough Before the score became law And sometimes at night when the servers go slow Someone whispers maybe they know How to break the chains of a numbered soul And crash the invisible throne ⸻ Final Hook Still living below the threshold But the silence is starting to crack Every outcast carries a spark And the system can’t track that They say the system sees everything Every purchase, word, and face But the one thing it can’t measure yet Is how long people will accept their place.
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