THE ETHICS OF THE SELL
Lofi Trip-Hop / Spoken Word / Paranoid Dust Loop / 76–82 BPM
Dry close vocal, detuned Rhodes, muted bass, dusty drums, occasional tape-stop breaks.
[INTRO — no drums, room tone, low vinyl crackle]
It’s a tedious situation
Or at least
It could be made into one
[PAUSE — 1 bar]
[VERSE 1 — beat enters, lazy but heavy]
Incoherent bits and pieces
Slammed together
Eyes glazed over
He hit the wall
Aggressive
Unreasonable
I couldn’t stand the silence
There’s no other option
Than the spiral coming
[BREAK — drums cut, bass note hangs]
The spiral coming
[VERSE 2 — slightly more rhythmic, almost whispered]
How fast things change
What should have been in the open
Moved to the forefront
Almost too easy
To stop caring
Almost too easy
To stop caring
[HOOK — minimal, repeated, half-sung]
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
What we hold
What we tell
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
Who gets out
Who gets well
[INSTRUMENTAL BREAK — 8 bars]
Rhodes loop detunes slightly
Kick stays soft
Snare lands late
A reversed vocal fragment rises and disappears
[VERSE 3 — spoken, colder]
The official fable
An object of inevitable
Concern and pity
Most stay in the comfort zone
Without knowing it
Most stay in the comfort zone
When they know it
A party trick by design
We’ve commenced
A recorded moment
One more time
[BREAK — tape-stop / silence / click back in]
One more time
[HOOK — return, more doubled vocal]
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
What we hold
What we tell
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
Who gets out
Who gets well
[MIDSECTION — ghost vocal, no full drums]
Fantastic and amazing
Horrible rotten
Fantastic and amazing
Horrible rotten
On every nightstand
And under every pillow
On every nightstand
And under every pillow
[BRIDGE — very close, almost confessional]
Thought creates
The nature of reality
We see everything
Exactly as we are
Thought creates
The nature of reality
We see everything
Exactly as we are
[FINAL HOOK — restrained, hypnotic]
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
What we hold
What we tell
The psychology of the cell
The ethics of the sell
Who gets out
Who gets well
[OUTRO — beat breaks apart, Rhodes alone]
It’s a tedious situation
Or at least
It could be made into one
[FINAL SPOKEN LINE]
We see everything
Exactly as we are