[Intro]
[Instrumental: Bright Piano, Organ Swell, Driving Bass, Snare Groove]
[Spoken Vocal]
One of the hardest things about tipping points…
is that they rarely arrive with a sign.
(No arrival time)
No flashing light.
No buzzer.
No announcement.
(What I meant:)
Just a system…
(Entering the flight of might)
[Verse 1]
The lake looked calm this morning
(The shoreline looked the same)
The graphs were still updating
(With a slightly steeper frame)
The changes felt incremental
(Not enough to steal the show)
Yet something underneath us
(Had already started to go)
[Pre-Chorus]
One more step
(One more degree)
One more stress
(We barely see)
[Chorus]
How will I know
(We’ve crossed the line)
What will it show
(During tipping point time)
Will it arrive
(With a bell or a sign)
Or only later
(When all’s not fine)
[Refrain]
Madge,
(How will I know)
You’re soaking in it
(That’s it)
Rinse repeat
(Go!)
Repeat
(Repeat)
[Verse 2]
The forest still looked healthy
(Until it didn’t one day)
The glacier seemed eternal
(Until it slipped away)
The probabilities kept shifting
(Beneath familiar ground)
By the time the trend was obvious
(The threshold had been found)
[Pre-Chorus]
One more year
(One more trend)
One more warning
(We defend)
[Chorus]
How will I know
(We’ve crossed the line)
What will it show
(During tipping point time)
Will there be proof
(We can define)
Or only footprints
(Left behind)
[Bridge]
[Music Drops to Bass and Organ]
The challenge isn’t seeing change
The challenge is recognition
A system can be transforming
Long before admission
We ask for certainty
While the pathways rearrange
And by the time we’re satisfied
The system may have changed
[Build]
Rinse…
(Repeat)
Watch…
(The heat)
Track…
(The beat)
The signals don’t retreat
[Instrumental Break]
[Surf Guitar Solo]
[Organ Stabs]
[Percussion Build]
[Final Chorus]
How will I know
(We’ve crossed the line)
What will it show
(During tipping point time)
The answer may be hidden
(Until another time)
When future generations
(Look behind)
How will I know
(We’ve crossed the line)
Maybe the question itself
(Is the warning sign)
[Extended Refrain]
Madge,
(How will I know)
You’re soaking in it
(That’s it)
Rinse repeat
(Go!)
Repeat
(Repeat)
Watch the pattern
(Grow)
Watch the momentum
(Flow)
[Outro]
[Organ Sustain, Guitar Harmonics]
Most times the tipping point
Doesn’t announce itself.
Sometimes…
The only way you know
Is that the world no longer behaves
Losing the last chance to save.
[Fade Out]
How will I know…
(No)
How will I know…
(No)
From the album “Cracked Windshield“