Static on the Bridge

[Verse]
Concrete towers in the canyon of L.A.
Blue shirts walking in a synchronized decay
Got a question for the man with the hollow stare:
Is there a ghost in the machine or just empty air?
Step inside, let the metal cans take hold
Tell 'em every secret until the lead turns into gold
But the needle doesn't jump, and the truth is just a debt
In a velvet-lined room where the sun hasn't set yet.

[Pre-Chorus]
Hold the sensors, feel the pulse
Trade your blood for something false
The volcano’s blowing smoke...
And we’re the punchline of the joke.

[Chorus]
Pay to play, pay to pray, pay to disappear
In a billion-year contract signed in fear
Yeah, it’s a long way down from OT-8
When you’re locked behind a high-security gate.

[Verse]
Check the stats, keep the graph on a steady rise
Disconnect from the mother with the "thetan" in her eyes
It’s a "pure" way of living in a hole in the ground
Where the only way up is to never make a sound
"The Way to Happiness" is a glossy little book
Hiding all the bait on a very expensive hook
I’ve been "cleared" out of pocket, I’ve been audited to death
I’m screaming underwater, wasting every single breath.

[Bridge]
The cruise ship is a prison in the sea...
The "Basics" aren't enough to set me free...
Another course, another check, another year...
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LOSE THE FEAR?

[Chorus]
Pay to play, pay to pray, pay to disappear
In a billion-year contract signed in fear
Yeah, it’s a long way down from OT-8
When you’re locked behind a high-security gate.

[Chorus]
Pay to play, pay to pray, pay to disappear
In a billion-year contract signed in fear
Yeah, it’s a long way down from OT-8
When you’re locked behind a high-security gate.

Grunge alternative rock with heavy distortion down tuned guitar and gritty, scratchy male vocals