NOBODY AT THE TOP

Lyrics

[Intro — spoken over a low bass pulse] The room is calm upstairs. Down here, everybody’s checking the exits. Turn it up. [Verse 1] Nobody at the top is panicking, They can wait out a case while the clock keeps damaging. Settle it later, let the lawyers rearrange it, Call it a cost, put a nicer name on it. Down on the street, that bill comes due, Somebody loses a home, somebody’s working through A stack of old papers, trying to trace what’s true— Who got the whole river? Who got a cup or two? I know what it’s like when the numbers don’t match, When you paid what you could and you’re waiting for the catch. But I’m still here counting, still keeping the facts, Still asking who decided which doors would latch. [Pre-Chorus] If the warning comes early, why wait for the flame? If the damage is real, why argue the name? The people who carry it shouldn’t have to scream To make the people above them see. [Chorus] Nobody at the top is panicking, But the whole world’s awake and the floor keeps cracking. Round and round while the lights stay on, We dance ’cause we’re here, but we know what’s wrong. Nobody at the top is panicking, They can buy one more day; we’re the ones who are counting. Turn that bass up, let the truth come through: What grows from the seed ought to grow for you too. [Verse 2] Tankers in the channel, drones over the line, Another little headline says we’re doing just fine. A boardroom calls it risk; a family calls it night With the phone beside the pillow and the porch light bright. New machines make decisions at the speed of a spark; Tell me who holds the switch when the grid goes dark. I don’t need a ghost behind each closing door— Show me who had the power, what they knew, and when before. And I’ve heard “send me” spoken like a battle cry, But the neighbor at the gate is asking why We can fund another fight and still walk by The roof that needs repairing and the well run dry. [Pre-Chorus] If the warning comes early, why wait for the flame? If the damage is real, why argue the name? You don’t have to know what’s hidden in a heart To see where the burden falls apart. [Chorus] Nobody at the top is panicking, But the whole world’s awake and the floor keeps cracking. Round and round while the lights stay on, We dance ’cause we’re here, but we know what’s wrong. Nobody at the top is panicking, They can buy one more day; we’re the ones who are counting. Turn that bass up, let the truth come through: What grows from the seed ought to grow for you too. [Bridge — drums drop; piano and handclaps] So build me a table with a place for the next one. Pay the hands that made it, pay the risk that was taken. Then keep a little back where nobody can take it Just because they found a way to claim it. Put it in the worker, in the water, in the land. Let a new shop rise without owning its hands. When that one grows strong, let another one begin— A seed that makes a seed, and the light gets in. [Final Chorus — full beat] Nobody at the top is panicking, But we can change what happens while the clock is running. Round and round, let the whole room move— Make the future something everybody can use. Nobody at the top is panicking, So we’ll ask the hard questions and keep on building. Turn that bass up, let the truth come through: What grows from the seed ought to grow for you too. [Outro — half spoken] Keep the receipts. Keep your hands open. Plant it again.