Verse 1

  The welds sigh on cold, indifferent steel

  A valve is weeping quietly in vacuum’s chill

  I count these bolts the way I count my heartbeats

  They call it hope — I call it a damned lie

  An old sax moans our lonely blues

  We walk a one-way road to nowhere that won’t answer back

  Verse 2

  She laughs like Mars’ first sliver of morning light

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  He talks about the future with stars trembling in his eyes

  I fix a thousand plates of armor, still can’t fix my despair

  A glass of whiskey for those who died along the way

  Jazz hides in the corner, keeps time with our silence

  Chorus (piano lifts, tempo swells — a little grit & defiance)

  We’re stardust, forgotten in the dark

  Orphans of the cosmos, toys of time

  But in my arms you’re warm as a newborn sun

  They say there’s no tomorrow — then let tonight burn hot

  Sing the filthiest curse, sing the softest lullaby

  The First Dance: Stardust Blues — To the Collective Lie

  “We are all on a one-way road, but at least, we are still on the road.”