(Verse 1) Alice slipped behind the mirror, tumbled on the chess-board floor, Met a crown of scarlet velvet asking what she's panting for. Wind is howling, limbs are pumping, trees are frozen in the view, Every stride across the heather leaves her where she started to. The Queen just smiles and straightens out her lace: "It takes all the running you can do, child, just to keep the same old place." Van Valen took the story, wrote the law across the clay: In an open, shifting system, no one banks a single day. (Chorus) You're running as fast as your lungs will allow, Just to stand on the ground you were standing on now. The finish line stretches, the baseline resets, You double the wager, you cancel the bets. The crown doesn't sleep and the wheel doesn't pause— The Red Queen is dealing evolutionary laws. No resting on laurels, no permanent grace: You run at top speed just to stay in the place. (Verse 2) Out across the dusty savanna, where the grass is scorched and dry, A gazelle picks up an extra yard beneath the morning sky. Does she lie down in the shadows? Does she celebrate the win? No, the cheetah's muscles tighten, and the counter-moves begin. He breeds for sharper shoulders, lightning turns upon the plain; Now the kill-rate sits identical, but double is the strain. Neither creature took an inch of ground the other couldn't claim, They just burned through twice the calories to play the self-same game. (Chorus) You're running as fast as your lungs will allow, Just to stand on the ground you were standing on now. The finish line stretches, the baseline resets, You double the wager, you cancel the bets. The crown doesn't sleep and the wheel doesn't pause— The Red Queen is dealing evolutionary laws. No resting on laurels, no permanent grace: You run at top speed just to stay in the place. (Bridge) We tell ourselves a fable that the struggle buys us peace: "Just automate the factory, let the heavy burdens cease. Just earn another zero, hit the milestone, clear the board, And we’ll finally build an orchard where the quiet is restored." A vicious little daydream—for the engine never stops; Efficiency's a mirror throwing back the same old drops. A surplus never lingers as a cushion for the chest; It simply raises up the ante and eliminates the rest. (Verse 3) Look down from the savanna to the pavement and the screens: A bachelor’s degree was gold back in the nineteen-seventeens. Now masters and credentials fill the entry-level door— You study four more winters just to reach the bottom floor. The ad-spend doubles on the feed to hold an eight-cent share, Two rivals pour billions out to capture empty air. High-frequency transmitters shaving fractions off the wire: Nobody's getting richer, they are only feeding fire. (Guitar / Instrument Solo – frantic, accelerating tempo that abruptly holds sustained pitch) (Chorus) You're running as fast as your lungs will allow, Just to stand on the ground you were standing on now. The finish line stretches, the baseline resets, You double the wager, you cancel the bets. The crown doesn't sleep and the wheel doesn't pause— The Red Queen is dealing evolutionary laws. No resting on laurels, no permanent grace: You run at top speed just to stay in the place. (Outro) Faster. Stride for stride. Lungs on fire, nowhere to hide. The prey grows swifter, the claw grows keen, Bow your head to the crimson Queen. Not falling behind is the only prize— Sprint till the daylight leaves your eyes. Wind in your hair, dust in your face... All that speed, Just to hold Your place.
