The Joke Was The Medicine 🐇🎻 (Horrorcore Glitch String Ritual)

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe © 2026 Mark Damon Bitkower. Lyrics & written content are original and owned by the author. All rights reserved. No reproduction, redistribution, or use without prior written permission. 🐰🌙𝕵𝖆𝖈𝖐𝕽𝖆𝖇𝖇𝖎𝖙 𝕾𝖑𝖎𝖒𝖘🌙🐰 [Spoken Intro] The bartender said, “You laugh at some strange times.” I said— “Some wounds need silence. Some need prayer. And some won’t open until somebody makes them laugh.” [Verse 1] Rain on Kingston Street tonight Black coats around the flame A man had spent three hours telling Why everybody else was to blame He spoke like some old courtroom Where he'd already won the case I asked one crooked little question And a smile broke on his face The whole room started laughing Then his laughter disappeared Like the punchline found the doorway He'd been guarding twenty years He said, “That isn't funny.” I said, “Maybe that's the point.” Sometimes laughter finds the fracture Before the sermon finds the joint [Chorus] The joke was the medicine You just didn't know it yet I made you laugh at the thing You were trying to forget I wasn't making light of sorrow I was letting daylight in Sometimes truth comes dressed like scripture Sometimes truth walks in grinning The joke was the medicine Sharp enough to make you see I wasn't laughing at your pain I was laughing with the part of you that wanted to be free [Verse 2] A woman wore her heartbreak Like a medal from a war Said she'd never trust another Never open any door I could've told her time heals everything Like every fool before Instead I said, “Well, congratulations— you finally found a plan where nobody can hurt you anymore.” She stared at me like murder Then laughed against her will Said, “You really are an asshole.” I said, “Yeah—but you're smiling still.” There's a difference between cruelty And cutting through a lie One leaves somebody bleeding One gives trapped air somewhere to rise [Chorus] The joke was the medicine Hidden underneath the sting Sometimes mercy wears a halo Sometimes bells upon a string I wasn't making light of sorrow I was letting daylight in Sometimes truth comes dressed like scripture Sometimes truth walks in grinning [Verse 3] I used to think compassion meant Going under with the ship Carrying everybody's ocean Till I couldn't feel my grip I'd sit beside the drowning Prove my heart by drowning too Till an old man at the counter said, “What good does that do?” So I learned to keep one boot On something solid when I bend You can love somebody drowning Without drowning as their friend Some nights the medicine is laughter Some nights you shut your mouth Some nights all a broken person needs Is somebody staying close [Bridge – Floor Toms / Tremolo Guitar / Gospel Harmony] Sacred and profane Wisdom dressed absurd A fool can cross a boundary A preacher fears to disturb But humor without kindness Is just another sharpened knife If the joke makes you feel smaller It didn't come from light [Low Gospel Voices] Know when to speak… Know when to stay… Sometimes love is listening… Sometimes love gets in the way… [Verse 4] By midnight half The Cobblestone Had stories on the floor Funerals and failed marriages Old ghosts behind the door Somebody asked why suffering Would ever need a grin I said, “Because pain gets powerful When it thinks it always wins.” Then the fiddle hit a wrong note Everybody laughed out loud Even grief looked less immortal For a minute in that crowd There are things too deep for language Things advice can't rearrange Sometimes one ridiculous moment Gives a wounded heart permission to change [Final Chorus] The joke was the medicine Not the wound and not the cure Just a crack inside the armor Where the air could enter through I wasn't making light of sorrow I was proving light still wins Sometimes truth comes dressed like scripture Sometimes truth walks in grinning So laugh if you can Cry when you must Let neither one become a prison Some truths knock politely Some kick the door down laughing [Outro – Voice + Acoustic Guitar] The bartender asked, “You think everything's funny?” I looked around the room. At the empty glasses. The wet coats. The people still carrying things no joke could fix. I said— “No.” He waited. I smiled. “That's why some things need one.”