RELEASE THE FILES [Verse 1] There was a room behind a locked door Where the rich men came and went While somebody waited in the hallway Trying to understand what it meant There were cars that never made the papers There were names nobody dared to say There were children learning far too early That the powerful can make things disappear And the years kept turning And the silence grew But the ones who carried the scars Never forgot what they knew [Pre-Chorus] You can bury a story You can hide a name You can build a wall around the truth But you can't erase the pain [Chorus] Release the files Let the daylight in Release the files Let the reckoning begin No more locked doors No more shadows in the hall No more protecting the powerful While the innocent take the fall Release the files Let the truth run wild For every voice they tried to silence For every forgotten child Release the files [Verse 2] They said the pages had to stay hidden They said the truth was complicated They said there were reasons for the secrets And the people asking questions should have waited But the survivors kept on talking When the cameras turned away They carried memories through the darkness That no redaction could erase They stood outside the marble buildings With the names they wouldn't let us forget Saying justice isn't something you promise Then bury underneath a desk [Pre-Chorus] You can black out every sentence You can seal another door But when the people start asking questions You can't silence them anymore [Chorus] Release the files Let the daylight in Release the files Let the reckoning begin No more locked doors No more shadows in the hall No more protecting the powerful While the innocent take the fall Release the files Let the truth run wild For every voice they tried to silence For every forgotten child Release the files [Verse 3] They put their signatures on paper They put a promise in the law Said the pages would be opened Said the people would finally see it all But now the pages come in pieces Some are missing, some are black And every time another curtain falls There's somebody pulling it back Because the question isn't partisan And it isn't left or right It's whether justice has a price tag And whether power owns the night [Pre-Chorus] If there's nothing left to hide Then open every door If the truth can stand the sunlight What are you waiting for? [Chorus] Release the files Let the daylight in Release the files Let the reckoning begin No more locked doors No more shadows in the hall No more protecting the powerful While the innocent take the fall Release the files Let the truth run wild For every voice they tried to silence For every forgotten child Release the files [Bridge] Somebody knows Somebody saw Somebody remembers What happened behind that door And somewhere tonight A survivor still waits Not for revenge Not for a favor Just justice that isn't too late You can call it complicated You can call it old news You can call it anything you want But you can't ask the wounded To forget what you refuse To show So open the door. [Breakdown] One page... Two pages... Black ink... White space... How much truth Can you hide Before the silence Starts screaming? RELEASE THE FILES [Final Chorus] Release the files Let the whole world see Who was standing in the shadows Who was buying secrecy Release the files Let the daylight in Let the survivors tell their stories Let accountability begin No more locked doors No more hiding behind the wall No more powerful people Standing above it all Release the files Let the truth run wild For every voice they tried to silence For every forgotten child Release the files Release the files RELEASE THE FILES
