[Intro]
[Three low piano chords sound like locked doors being tested.]

The headline names the vote.
The second line wants code.
I know the danger from the wall.
I cannot reed the cause at all.

[Verse 1]
My library closed last winter's end;
The bus route left, then did not mend.
The local paper cut the beat
That knew each courthouse, school and street.
The council meets at half past two;
The stream requires an account to view.
A notice says the file is free--
After consent to thirty-three.

[Verse 2]
I search the law that changed my rent;
A summary appears, then payment.
I search the donor behind the bill;
The page turns grey, the screen stands still.
"Subscribe to keep democracy strong."
I count the coins and move along.
Power gets the full report.
The public reeds one line.

[Chorus]
Democracy behind a paywall,
Reed the headline, miss the call.
Rights reduced to monthly fees,
Truth expires with terms and keys.
Democracy behind a paywall--
Public knowledge sold to all.

[Verse 3]
My neighbor trusts a forwarded claim;
It costs no fee and knows his name.
The lie arrives in letters bright,
While verified facts lock down at night.
A platform offers endless views,
But not the source beneath the news.
We argue from unequal ground--
One side has proof, one has the sound.

[Verse 4]
The veteran brings a printed sheet,
The migrant mother brings a seat.
The nurse brings coffee from her shift;
The elder brings a memory's gift.
We gather in a laundromat,
Because no sponsor owns the mat.
One stolen proof, one folding chair--
A public room begins from there.

[Chorus]
Democracy behind a paywall,
Reed the headline, miss the call.
Rights reduced to monthly fees,
Truth expires with terms and keys.
Democracy behind a paywall--
Public knowledge should be all.

[Interlude]
[Cello and organ repeat the locked motif while a coin-like metallic strike disappears after the third measure.]

[Bridge]
A right that waits behind a price
Becomes permission sold in slices.
A fact available to wealth
Cannot defend the public health.

[Bridge]
But access is not charity.
A common life needs clarity.
We place the proof beneath the light
And reed each paragraph tonight.

[Buildup]
One neighbor copies twenty sheets.
One cyclist carries them through streets.

[Final Chorus]
Democracy behind a paywall--
We have gathered past the wall.
Rights are more than monthly fees;
Truth must travel without keys.
Democracy behind a paywall
Cannot live as product at all.

[Outro]
The ballroom still controls the feed.
The folding chairs supply the need.
Three locked chords change their final tone.
No public truth survives alone.
