[Intro] Soft neon glow and a screen waking up Another morning measuring value in luck [Verse 1] Second monitor glow by a quarter past eight Morning coffee already halfway drained Quotes, calls, websites, tracking down suppliers Learning new software just to stay desirable Answer every customer before the day ends By five o’clock the inbox hits zero again Boss gets tense when the phones stop ringing Like silence itself means something’s sinking So I walk back asking “anything else?” He says “not right now” and I sit with myself [Pre-Chorus] And I keep adding skills like sandbags in a flood Trying to outrun the price of standing still [Chorus] If I want to survive comfortably I have to become MORE useful forever Annual review and I still feel behind Everybody says “that’s life” every time Retirement plan? Yeah, I got one Work until my hands shake under fluorescent suns Clock in, log out, repeat the design Trade another year just to buy some time [Verse 2] Small company means everybody wears five faces One slow month and you can feel it in the spaces Follow-up calls and spreadsheets glowing Trying to look productive when the work stops flowing And nobody’s cruel here, nobody’s evil Just people surviving beneath rising needles But somewhere between “stable” and “doing okay” The finish line quietly faded away [Pre-Chorus] Now efficiency just raises the bar And every new skill moves the goalposts farther [Chorus] If I want to survive comfortably I have to become MORE useful forever Smile through the stress and hold it together While burnout gets called ambition by everybody else Retirement plan? Maybe that’s the joke Keep the lights on long enough to stay hopeful Clock in, log out, repeat the design Trade another year just to buy some time [Bridge] I thought by now I’d feel safe somehow Not calculating groceries walking through town Not wondering how many versions of me Still gotta exist just to stay on my feet And I’m not drowning I’m just tired of treading water perfectly [Final Chorus] If I want to survive comfortably I have to become MORE useful forever Smile through the stress and hold it together While the world keeps asking for something better Retirement plan? Guess this is mine Another clean inbox at the end of the night Second monitor glow burning into my eyes Trade another year just to buy some time [Outro] Quarter past eight Quarter past life Still learning new ways To survive [end song]
