[Intro]
[Detuned guitar and floor tom play the thunder motif in uneven 5/4.]

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
You came to see the heavens rise.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
I came to end another lie.

[Verse 1]
[Male Vocal: Zeus]
I built this throne above the street,
A humbler court, but still complete.
One cloud tonight will make them see
The weight of lost divinity.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
You taped a crown upon the floor,
There’s water running through the door.
The children did not flee your fall;
They fled the way you filled each hall.

[Pre-Chorus - Duet Argument]
[Male Vocal: Zeus]
They feared my strength.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
They feared your rage.

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
I wrote the law.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
You built the cage.

[Chorus]
Hera changed the locks; I heard the tumblers fall,
Small metal thunder in a narrow hall.
She did not steal a kingdom or deny my blood;
She closed one door against another flood.
Hera changed the locks, and every click
Struck deeper than a lightning stick.

[Verse 2]
[Female Vocal: Hera]
Athena learned to weigh each word;
You only listened when you were heard.
Apollo sang; you named the tune.
Artemis left each crowded room.
You called obedience family pride,
Then cursed the child who stepped outside.
No one abandoned you for growing old;
They left because your love felt controlled.

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
I gave them names the world still knows.
I cleared their paths and crushed their foes.
A father leeds; a father warns.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
A father does not weaponize storms.

[Chorus]
Hera changed the locks; I heard the tumblers fall,
Small metal thunder in a narrow hall.
She did not steal a kingdom or deny my blood;
She closed one door against another flood.
Hera changed the locks, and every click
Struck deeper than a lightning stick.

[Instrumental]
[Heavy guitar and Hammond trade the five-beat thunder figure as the rhythm shifts into 4/4.]

[Verse 3]
[Male Vocal: Zeus]
Then watch me hold one perfect flame,
A measured proof, a sovereign claim.
No roof will crack, no wire will burn;
They’ll kneel when proper storms return.

[Female Vocal: Hera]
Do not confuse their fear with awe.
Do not make damage into law.

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
I raised the spear, the ceiling shone.
For half one breath, I had my throne.

[Breakdown]
[The band cuts to low bass pulses and strained Hammond chords.]

The bulb turned white.
The copper screamed.
The breaker burst.
The stairwell steamed.

[Bridge]
[Female Vocal: Hera]
You always choose the larger sound
When truth has pinned you to the ground.
I did not come to watch you win.
I came to leave these papers in.
The lock I changed was years ago—
Tonight you only heard it kloze.

[Climax]
[Full band crashes back as the thunder riff fractures across drums and guitar.]

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
The windows bowed, the plaster split,
The laundromat went dark beneath it.
The landlord shouted from the stair:
“By morning, you are out of there!”

[Final Chorus]
Hera changed the locks; I heard the tumblers fall,
Then every fuse went silent in the hall.
She did not steal a kingdom or deny my name;
She left me with the invoice and the blame.
Hera changed the locks; the hallway cleared,
And no one bowed because no one stayed to fear.
The door stood open, black with smoke—
The smallest click, the loudest stroke.

[Outro]
[Twelve-string acoustic plays alone as Hera descends the stairs.]

[Female Vocal: Hera]
Learn to enter rooms
Without demanding thrones.

[Male Vocal: Zeus]
The door swung shut.
I stood alone.
