[INTRO Screams]
The city wakes to windows stacked like graves
The cafés fill, the trains still keep their pace
Yet every screen repeats the same campaign
A fever spreading underneath the face
[VERSE 1]
The headlines bloom like weeds along the wire
The storefronts buzz, the shoppers drift in line
Each week another nation climbs up higher
While old men toast disaster over wine
The banners flap above divided streets
The arguments grow sharper by the day
No one hears the warning in their heartbeat
They're far too busy shouting it away
[PRE-CHORUS]
You speak of sacrifice you've never known
You praise the storm while standing safe at home
[CHORUS]
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the traffic lights stay red?
Ready when the pigeons leave the squares?
Ready when the morning isn't there?
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the radio speaks in codes?
Ready when the highways point nowhere?
Ready for the World War?
[GUITAR SOLO I]
[VERSE 2] (ABAB)
A playground swings beneath a cloudless sky
A father folds a jacket by the door
A week from now he'll only wonder why
That voice won't echo through the halls no more
A photograph lies burned with the debris
A wedding ring sleeps somewhere out of sight
The promises are filed with history
The future slips away before midnight
[PRE-CHORUS]
Do you still crave the thunder from afar?
When every mile begins to feel like yours?
[CHORUS]
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the traffic lights stay red?
Ready when the pigeons leave the squares?
Ready when the morning isn't there?
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the radio speaks in codes?
Ready when the highways point nowhere?
Ready for the World War?
[GUITAR SOLO II]
[BRIDGE]
You chant for victory from cushioned chairs
You trade in slogans while the cost grows near
You wave your certainty through heated air
Yet vanish when the reckoning appears
Will you crawl through shattered stairwells choked with stone?
Will you search the wreckage calling someone's name?
Or only feed the furnace from a screen?
[BREAKDOWN]
The rubble never cared who drew the lines
The empty seats remember every guess
The ledger keeps recording every loss
Long after all the speeches have been said
[CHORUS]
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the traffic lights stay red?
Ready when the pigeons leave the squares?
Ready when the morning isn't there?
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the radio speaks in codes?
Ready when the highways point nowhere?
Ready for the World War?
[GUITAR SOLO III]
[FINAL CHORUS]
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the traffic lights stay red?
Ready when the pigeons leave the squares?
Ready when the morning isn't there?
Ready for the World War?
Ready when the radio speaks in codes?
Ready when the highways point nowhere?
Ready for the World War?
[OUTRO]
Ready for the World War...?