[Instrumental Intro]
\n[Pulsing Bass]
\n[Electric Guitar Swells]
\n[Distant Train Sounds]
\n[Building Percussion]<\/p>\n
[Chorus]
\nHow do we know
\n(How this can go)
\nWow! Watch that momentum grow…
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
[Refrain]
\nWhiplash!
\n(To and fro)
\nWhiplash!
\n(High and low)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Faster we go)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Maybe we should know)<\/p>\n
[Verse 1]
\nWhat was a five-hundred-year flood
\n(Just a century ago)
\nBecame a one-hundred-year flood
\n(Then the numbers began to flow)<\/p>\n
Then a ten-year flood arrived
\n(Showing up once again)
\nNow the maps keep changing
\n(And the odds refuse to bend)<\/p>\n
The storm was not the thing that changed
\n(The system changed instead)
\nThe atmosphere gained energy
\n(And the warnings slowly spread)<\/p>\n
[Pre-Chorus]
\nSeven percent more moisture
\n(For every degree we climb)
\nA little more heat each decade
\n(A little less remaining time)<\/p>\n
[Chorus]
\nHow do we know
\n(How this can go)
\nWow! Watch that momentum grow…
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
How do we know
\n(What’s down below)
\nThe ocean keeps the score you know…
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
[Verse 2]
\nForests burn and oceans warm
\n(The signals intertwine)
\nSpecies move and coastlines shift
\n(Along the fault lines of time)<\/p>\n
Markets shake and crops decline
\n(Supply chains feel the strain)
\nOne disturbance joins another
\n(And amplifies the pain)<\/p>\n
Cause and effect get tangled
\n(In loops we barely see)
\nA web of coupled systems
\n(From the soil to the sea)<\/p>\n
[Refrain]
\nWhiplash!
\n(To and fro)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Fast and slow)
\nWhiplash!
\n(The pressure grows)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Everybody knows)<\/p>\n
[Bridge]
\nNo, it isn’t science fiction
\n(No sudden fireball sky)
\nThe danger is commitment
\n(To pathways we can’t unwind)<\/p>\n
Not a runaway tomorrow
\n(Not next week or next year)
\nBut decisions made this century
\n(That echo far from here)<\/p>\n
The inertia keeps on building
\n(The oceans hold the heat)
\nFuture generations inherit
\n(The momentum we repeat)<\/p>\n
[Instrumental Break]
\n[Lead Guitar Solo]
\n[Organ Swell]
\n[Rising Synth Arpeggios]<\/p>\n
[Verse 3]
\nSome say everything is normal
\n(Just another passing phase)
\nOthers see the fracture lines
\n(Beneath familiar days)<\/p>\n
Invisible stress accumulates
\n(Like cracks beneath the glass)
\nThen one day the pieces connect
\n(And thresholds come to pass)<\/p>\n
The question isn’t whether
\n(The system can still change)
\nThe question is how much remains
\n(Within a manageable range)<\/p>\n
[Final Chorus]
\nHow do we know
\n(How this can go)
\nWow! Watch that momentum grow…
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
How do we know
\n(What futures we bestow)
\nThe train is still upon the tracks…
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
How do we know
\n(How far before the bend)
\nWe still have time to brake the wheels…
\n(But not time without end)<\/p>\n
[Extended Refrain]
\nWhiplash!
\n(To and fro)
\nWhiplash!
\n(The signals show)<\/p>\n
Whiplash!
\n(The numbers grow)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Maybe we should slow)<\/p>\n
Whiplash!
\n(Watch momentum flow)
\nWhiplash!
\n(Maybe we should know)<\/p>\n
[Outro]
\n[Spoken Vocal]<\/p>\n
A system can absorb stress for a very long time… (until.)<\/p>\n
The challenge is recognizing the transition before the cracks connect… (fulfil.)<\/p>\n
[Instrumental Fade]
\n[Guitar Harmonics]
\n[Low Synth Drone]
\n[Train Sound Dissolves Into Wind]<\/p>\n