I. Quantized (or A Sordid State of Affairs)
"One way or another, we'll escape"

While sifting through the rubble
And all remaining of the life they chose
They set their past ablaze
For reasons they don't care yet to disclose

Ill-clothed, penniless & helpless
The reconstruction far from underway
Façade after façade laid out before them
Each one but a chaotic attaché

As the pendulous day marches onward
By uncertainty, their roads are beset
They'd be content to find their juste-milieu
Never mind their raisons d'être

Not another superficial hangup
Not another goal overshot
No more striving for 110%
Just to find it all for naught

Exposed to the world, fear tests their wills
They become the Tell to its archer
Those in their past, they feel, being better off
And all will fall in place due to their departure

But they've more pressing matters at hand
Whence will their next meal arrive?
Must they seek out and claim their stakes
Or will a so-called "higher power" provide?

II. Pabulum
(Never fear, just breathe)

Oh! To be meek and to do as you're told!
Oh! To fit beautifully into the mold!
Oh! To be aloof, never having to learn!
Oh! To be youthful with money to burn!
Oh! To conformity you remain loyal!
Oh! To never know what it is to toil!
Oh! To sit back as the world becomes rotten!
Oh! To hell with it - let it all be forgotten!

The suspect reassurance repeats ad nauseam
In the most literal sense of the phrase
For this queasiness engulfs them
They can't stomach what's both here and yet to come
And the headaches, enfeebling,
Come and go in waves
On the one hand, they're content to feel again
On the other, when the hell will this be done?

III. Aporia
Beheld by stagnation
Plagued by this drought
They're stranded at the station
Amongst the lowly rout
With this lucid obfuscation
Comes crippling doubt
To its coarse humiliation
They've become devout

Minds are always racing
Like the chariots of old
They'll soon be interlacing
And taking hold
And the dreams they've kept on chasing
Slip away into the cold
And their nightmares, now they sing
Twentyfold

No strangers to this story
Yet it still persists
Just one more memento mori
Atop the list
But to remain in the quarry
Is as welcome as a cyst
They abandon inventory
And seek out bliss

IV. Celestial Annex
We long for absolute catharsis
We long for velveteen hues
We long to shed this convolution
We long to bask in the drone
We long to embrace the celestial
We long to find that perfect bond
We long to shake off this malaise
We long to shift the fulcrum
We long for a picturesque future
We long to get the hell out of Dodge
We long to truly fuck the system
We long to right our wrongs
We long for a life worth living
We long to cast aside illusions
We long to make it all happen
'Cause we might not have that long at all

V. Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, Please
This is bound to get worse before it improves
But, to move on, moving on behooves
So pack your things and bid goodbye to all erstwhile
And when you're ready, I'll meet you at the turnstile

Well, here goes nothing
If I don't do this now
When am I gonna do it?
What choice do I have?
I don't really know
But I may never know
All I know is I'm ready...
Yes, I'm ready...
I said I'm ready...I think...
Well...I'm as ready as I'll ever be...

VI. Thank You For Holding
(instrumental)