[Intro]
[Muted guitar chugs in strict quarter notes while the pipe organ repeats the ON AIR motif without variation.]

[Verse 1]
At eight, the board convened upstairs,
Leather folders, matching chairs.
At nine, the staff received a note:
“Unauthorized material spoke.”
At ten, the owner faced the press,
Praised restraint and due process.
Behind him, sponsor logos shone—
Every frightened brand well known.

[Pre-Chorus]
No one said the segment lied.
No one challenged what it tied.
They condemned the broken chain,
Not the evidence or name.

[Chorus]
Sponsored by compliance, brought to you by fear,
A softer word for treason, a cleaner lie to hear.
Sponsored by compliance, approved from floor to floor,
The truth has lost its airtime, but the ads demand more.
Speak the copy, wear the smile, make obedience sound wise—
This hour is sponsored by compliance and financed by your eyes.

[Verse 2]
Jonah’s pass went dark at noon,
Mara’s desk was cleared by two.
Security packed every frame,
Labeled boxes without names.
The anchor signed a statement first:
“Standards failed; trust must be nursed.”
A sponsor sent champagne at three,
“To renewed responsibility.”

[Pre-Chorus]
Fear had found a cleaner dress,
Tailored as “preparedness.”
Censorship required no wall—
Only contracts down the hall.

[Chorus]
Sponsored by compliance, brought to you by fear,
A softer word for treason, a cleaner lie to hear.
Sponsored by compliance, approved from floor to floor,
The truth has lost its airtime, but the ads demand more.
Speak the copy, wear the smile, make obedience sound wise—
This hour is sponsored by compliance and financed by your eyes.

[Break]
[Corporate Choir]
Who protects the brand?
We protect the brand.
Who defines the true?
Those who purchase you.

[Instrumental]
[Human-played toms push against the rigid kick pattern while low strings bend the ON AIR motif out of tune.]

[Bridge]
A contract cannot feel disgrace.
A logo cannot meet your face.
A market never hears the knock
Of agents coming down the block.
But human hands approved each line,
And human mouths said, “All is fine.”

[Final Chorus]
Sponsored by compliance—record every name,
The board that sold the warning and the brands that bought the shame.
Sponsored by compliance, approved from floor to floor,
The truth was pushed from airtime, so it entered every door.
Speak your copy, wear your smile, make obedience sound wise—
But every hour of compliance leaves a record in our eyes.

[Outro]
At five, the market closed ahead.
At six, the altered news was aired.
At seven, copies crossed the town.
Compliance could not shut them down.
