[Intro]
[Organ, snare and muted brass enter one at a time, each part waiting for another to begin.]

[Verse 1]
[Narrator]
The House defers, the Senate waits,
Each counts the risks and checks the dates.
The court has ruled, yet no one moves;
The order stands while power proves.
An agency receives the call:
“Obey the White House. That is all.”
The press requests the missing page;
The spokesman smiles and names it rage.

[Chorus]
[Ensemble]
Checks and balances burn,
One by one, no branch returns.
Every lesson left unlearned,
Every warning overturned.
While each waits for someone’s turn,
Checks and balances burn.

[Verse 2]
[Narrator]
A chairman hides behind a vote,
A justice narrows one more note.
A watchdog loses staff and room,
A bureau seals the archive tomb.
The inspector’s letter reaches none;
The prosecutor’s case is done.
Each guard insists the next will fight—
The crown advances every night.

[Chorus]
[Ensemble]
Checks and balances burn,
One by one, no branch returns.
Every lesson left unlearned,
Every warning overturned.
While each waits for someone’s turn,
Checks and balances burn.

[Instrumental Break]
[Organ, strings, guitars and drums enter as separate fugue voices before collapsing into one repeated executive rhythm.]

[Bridge]
[Narrator]
No parchment burst into a flame,
No marble dome forgot its name.
The buildings stood, the flags still flew,
The morning tours went walking through.
The fire lived in duties waived,
In questions dropped and rulings shaved.
A system dies without a sound
When every guard looks farther round.

[Breakdown]
[Ensemble]
Congress waits.
The court delays.
The bureau bends.
The counsel stays.
The cameras turn.
The records churn.
The crown advances.
Safeguards burn.

[Final Chorus]
[Citizens]
Checks and balances burn—
Now the waiting crowd returns.
Every silent chamber learns:
Power takes what fear adjourns.
Face the fire. Hold your turn.
Or checks and balances burn.

[Outro]
[Narrator]
The Capitol remains illuminated.
The courthouse doors remain unlocked.
The agencies still answer their phones.
Yet every answer sounds the same.