[Intro: Floor Manager]
[Floor Manager]
Places. Cameras: four.
The golden host approaches the door.
Liberty waits in painted chains.
The orchestra holds three descending strains.

[Verse 1: Liberty]
[Liberty]
They powdered my face and shortened my dress,
Cut all my questions and praised my success.
They placed me beside him, silent and tall,
A copper-green witness who answered no call.
He spoke of my body as land he possessed,
A logo to print on the front of his chest.
But liberty rented to flatter one name
Is merely a spotlight disguising a chain.

[Pre-Chorus: Citizen]
[Citizen]
We brought every record they cut from the feed,
Every name they reduced to a threat or a need.
We came as the people who opened the door.

[Chorus]
Liberty under studio lights,
No more cue cards, no alibis.
Liberty under studio lights
Meets the camera with open eyes.
Cut the feed and unbar the door—
She is not his brand, his throne or war.

[Verse 2]
The host lifts his hand; the old chant starts.
The choir of anchors recites its parts.
The algorithm offers the hottest frame.
The senator hides behind flag and name.
Then one anchor lowers the printed lie.
One camera operator lets it pass by.
The choir loses half of its tone.
The golden man stands suddenly alone.

[Ensemble: Host, Liberty & Citizen]
[Host]
Without my voice, you disappear.
[Liberty]
I lived before your borrowed fear.
[Host]
I made them love the flag again.
[Liberty]
You made the flag excuse one man.
[Host]
The country speaks when I command.
[Citizen]
A country speaks with every hand.

[Chorus]
Liberty under studio lights,
No more cue cards, no alibis.
Liberty under studio lights
Meets the camera with open eyes.
Cut the feed and unbar the door—
She is not his brand, his throne or war.

[Instrumental: solo guitar rising answer, low brass descending motif]

[Bridge: Liberty]
[Liberty]
Do not replace him with another crown.
No single hero keeps a tyrant down.
Build laws that hold when favorites fail.
Fund every clerk who guards the mail.

[Breakdown]
No cue.
No chant.
No golden name.
No host can own the frame.

[Build-up]
The hammer joins the low strings.
The mirror turns toward every face.
Red caps lie empty by the wall.
The rising motif answers all.

[Final Chorus]
Liberty under studio lights,
Tears the cue cards, names the price.
Liberty under studio lights
Walks beyond the lens’s eyes.
Cut the feed and clear the floor—
She belongs to everyone, not one gold lord.

[Outro]
The cameras cool. The crowd departs.
Liberty walks among hearts.
Gold letters loosen from the wall and fall.