[Intro]

[Verse 1]
The large screen's on before the room fills
Dashboard timestamps in a row
Current's latest on the left
Blink alert one column over
I zoom the line and check the stamp
Nine-oh-eight, nine-oh-one
Seven minutes on this story
So I pull the next one up

[Verse 2]
Yesterday shows another gap
Different story, different hour
Then the one we ran before it
Current trailing there as well
Ben comes in with coffee raised
Looks at me, then at the screen
"One example?" Fair enough
I pull three more up

[Chorus]
Seven minutes behind
Doesn't sound like much
Seven minutes behind
Till the other rows add up
One delay, you shrug it off
Four are harder to explain
Seven minutes behind

[Break]

[Verse 3]
Adrian stops beside the screen
Reads the columns without speaking
Points at the newest story there
"What's the gap on that one?"
I zoom in once and read it back
Current at nine-oh-eight
Blink alert at nine-oh-one
"Seven."
He scans the earlier rows
"Bring the comparison to the meeting."

[Chorus]
Seven minutes behind
Doesn't sound so small
Seven minutes behind
When the other rows add up
One delay, you shrug it off
Four are harder to explain
Seven minutes behind

[Break]

[Final Chorus]
Seven minutes behind
Up there on the screen
Seven minutes behind
Nobody calls it small
Not one story standing alone
Not one number by itself
Put the rows beside each other
Now the gap is hard to miss
Seven minutes behind
Bring it into the room
Seven minutes behind
That's where the meeting starts

[Outro]
Ben lifts his coffee
Adrian heads for the door
I leave the dashboard open
Seven minutes behind