[Intro]
[Driving Bass, Tom Drums, Organ Swell, Delayed Guitar]
[Spoken Vocal]
A crack rarely stays where it starts.
(It departs leaving remnants)
Stress seeks pathways.
(Day after day after days)
Pressure seeks weakness.
And once connections form…
The spreading begins.
(Growin’)
Growin’ again and again
[Verse 1]
What began as a single line
Running through the pane
Slowly found another path
And then another lane
Each fracture linked to others
Across the structure’s face
Turning isolated damage
Into a spreading lace
[Pre-Chorus]
Across the glass
(Across the years)
Across our hopes
(Across our fears)
[Chorus]
We knew
(It grew)
Spreading
(Toward dreading)
The lines connected
(More than a few)
What seemed impossible
(Became true)
[Verse 2]
A drought affects a harvest
A harvest shifts a price
A price affects a family
Already stretched by life
A storm disrupts with strife
A region strains a state’s state
The consequences multiply
As pressures accumulate
(You can’t deny)
… it’s gettin’ late
[Refrain]
Pushed to the limit
(More than a bit)
Climatic
(Economic)
Political
(Roll call)
And, all and all
Let it roll
(Roll, baby, roll)
[Pre-Chorus]
One stressor
(Finds another)
One fracture
(Finds a brother)
[Chorus]
We knew
(It grew)
Spreading
(Toward dreading)
The pathways widened
(Through and through)
What seemed disconnected
(Connected too)
[Bridge]
[Music Drops to Bass and Drums]
Feedback follows feedback
Reaction follows cause
Every system carries strengths
And hidden structural flaws
The question isn’t whether
The crack will spread at all
The question is how quickly
The next fractures will crawl
[Build]
Faster…
(Than before)
Farther…
(Than before)
Deeper…
(Than before)
Opening another door
[Refrain]
Pushed to the limit
(More than a bit)
Climatic
(Economic)
Political
(Roll call)
Ecological
(Overall)
And, all and all
Let it roll
(Roll, baby, roll)
[Final Chorus]
[Full Band, Choir Harmony]
We knew
(It grew)
Spreading
(Toward dreading)
Across the glass
(Across the years)
Across the headlines
(Across the fears)
We knew
(It grew)
Spreading
(Still spreading)
[Outro]
[Drums Fade, Organ Sustains]
A fracture spreads…
Not because it wants to.
But because the structure
Allows it not to quit.
(Call it… habit?)
Or habitat, at that.
[Fade Out]
Roll…
Baby…
Roll…
From the album “Cracked Windshield“