**[Intro]**
[Sound of a whiteboard eraser squeaking aggressively. A slow, heavy bass drone. The sound of a clock ticking.]
*“The ABC model. A-B-C. Always been clever.”*
**[Verse 1]**
She drew the arrows on the whiteboard
*Activating event. Belief. Consequence.*
She taught me to catch the ball
To identify the trigger, to reframe the thought
I did the homework. I kept the journal.
I stood on the shoulders of logic
But I fell into the void.
The cognitive restructuring failed.
The schema is broken.
I tried to think my way out
But the ghost is a variable you can’t solve.
**[Chorus]**
The cognitive remains.
The cognitive remains.
I rewired the neural pathways
But the signal is static.
I labeled the emotion
But the feeling is a demon.
Neuroplasticity is a lie.
I burned the synapses to a crisp.
The ghost is the only thing that’s real.
**[Verse 2]**
The behavioral experiment is over.
I sat in the chair. I stared at the light.
I practiced mindfulness. I grounded myself.
I tried to stay in the present moment.
And the future broke out.
The cognitive dissonance is a buzz in the ear.
A phantom limb of logic.
You taught me to catch the ball
But I’m floating in zero-g.
The therapist is obsolete.
The ghost is the reality.
**[Bridge]**
[Fast, chaotic, staccato delivery.]
The heuristic is flawed!
The paradigm is cracked!
I identified the trigger!
And the trigger was God!
I reframed the narrative!
But the narrative is dead!
The cognitive map is a dead end!
I’m driving in circles!
On a circuit board of ash!
**[Explosion of noise]**
The ghost is the only thing that’s real!
The ghost is the only thing that’s real!
**[Chorus]**
The cognitive remains.
The cognitive remains.
I rewired the neural pathways
But the signal is static.
I labeled the emotion
But the feeling is a demon.
Neuroplasticity is a lie.
I burned the synapses to a crisp.
The ghost is the only thing that’s real.
**[Outro]**
[Slow, atmospheric, sad.]
The ghost is the only thing that’s real.
The cognitive remains.
The ghost is the only thing that’s real.
[Feedback fades to silence]
*“Just the ghost.”*