Ghosts in the Machine

[Intro] **Phone rings** **Beep of answering machine** (Female speaks) "Hey, are you there? I'm just calling to check on you." **Beep** (Male speaks) "Hi, this is Chad. I was wondering when you're coming back to work. Give me a call.) [Verse 1] Another day, another dollar carved into my spine, Clockin’ in to rot again, this soul’s been fossilized. “Too old to pivot, too broke to quit”—that’s what the mirror cries, Passions labeled “childish,” dreams dissolved in bleach and lies. Scrolling through the static, friends reduced to pixels on a screen, Likes and hollow comments fill the void where love should be. I scream, but the algorithm swallows every sound, Trapped inside this loop where the lost are never found. [Chorus] Ghosts in the machine, but the machine don’t bleed, I’m a number in a system built to grind my needs. Every step I take, the ground just fades away, If I’m not profit, then I’m trash—that’s what the corporates say. [Verse 2] Hobbies stacked like coffins in a closet locked airtight, “Get a real job, boy”—yeah, I’m drownin’ in their spite. Therapy’s a luxury when rent’s a ticking b**b, Medicate the pain, but the highs just leave me numb. Used to paint the sky, now I’m colorblind and drained, Every spark I strike gets smothered by the rain. Resumé’s a eulogy for skills they call obsolete, Aged out of the hustle, left with scars and receipts. [Bridge] Bullet in the chamber of a life I didn’t choose, Decades of the grind, but there’s nothing left to lose. They say “climb,” but the ladder’s just a noose in disguise, If freedom’s just a myth, then maybe goodbye’s the prize. [Outro] **Gunshot**