TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT [Verse 1] He was just a kid with a bedroom wall, Posters of cars from floor to ceiling tall, Girls leaning on bonnets, neon in the night, Chrome catching fire underneath the streetlight. Fast Fours stacked beside the bed, Custom mags and dreams inside his head, Car-part manuals with the pages worn, Learning how to build the machine he was born for. He'd trace the lines with a grease-stained hand, Dreaming of horsepower he didn't understand, Turbo diagrams and a workshop light, Building his future every Friday night. [Pre-Chorus] It started with a picture, Then a magazine, Then a sound outside That became a dream. [Chorus] It's the trickle down effect, One little spark becomes a fire, One poster on a bedroom wall Turns into a heart's desire. From the parts beneath the bonnet To the neon underneath, He wasn't just building a car— He was building who he'd be. It's the trickle down effect, Yeah, it gets inside your blood, Starts with four wheels and a dream And turns into a way of life and love. [Verse 2] Then he found his first car, battered and cheap, But he looked at that body like a promise to keep, Didn't matter that the paint was shot, He could already see everything it was not. New wheels, new stance, lowered just right, Cold-start rumble in the middle of the night, Exhaust singing down the street, Every boost of the turbo made his heart skip a beat. He'd save every dollar for another new part, Building that machine piece by piece from the start, Intercooler shining behind the grille, New gauges glowing with a dashboard thrill. And when the sun went down, he'd switch them on— Blue neon glowing till the darkness was gone. [Pre-Chorus] It started with a picture, Now he's living the scene, The kid who dreamed of horsepower Is underneath the machine. [Chorus] It's the trickle down effect, One little spark becomes a fire, One poster on a bedroom wall Turns into a heart's desire. From the parts beneath the bonnet To the neon underneath, He wasn't just building a car— He was building who he'd be. It's the trickle down effect, Yeah, it gets inside your blood, Starts with four wheels and a dream And turns into a way of life and love. [Verse 3] Then came the paint job nobody had seen, Circuit-board traces running over the machine, Copper-coloured pathways over black, Like every dream he'd ever had Was wired into the metal beneath. Every line had a destination, Every switch had a reason, Every turn of the key Was another part of him breathing. He'd stand back underneath the workshop light, Look at that car and smile at midnight, Remember the boy he'd been back then— Staring at posters again and again. [Bridge – slower] Maybe it was never about going fast, Maybe it was chasing something from the past, A kid with a dream and a magazine, Trying to turn a picture into something he'd seen. And every generation passes it down, From father to son, from town to town, A love for machines, a need to create, A little bit crazy, a little bit great. [Guitar Solo] Turbo whistle — engine rev — guitar tears into the solo [Final Chorus] It's the trickle down effect, One little spark becomes a fire, One poster on a bedroom wall Turns into a heart's desire. From the Fast Fours pages To the car beneath the lights, From the manuals on the bedroom floor To the engine coming alive. Yeah, the neon's still glowing, And the circuit-board lines still shine, Every part beneath that bonnet Carries a little piece of time. It's the trickle down effect, Yeah, it gets inside your blood, Starts with a boy and his first car And becomes the thing he loves. [Outro] So if you see that circuit-board car Glowing underneath the stars, Remember there was once a boy With a poster on his wall... A magazine beside his bed... And a dream he couldn't turn off. That's the trickle down effect.
