Dancing Through Collapse

**DANCING THROUGH COLLAPSE**

**[Intro — distant emergency broadcast]**

remain indoors

remain calm

remain visible

the lights will return

the lights will return

the lights will—

**[Verse 1]**

The towers bent at half-past two

glass came down like silver rain

we watched the traffic signals drown

and kissed beneath the warning flame

your lipstick tasted chemical

my hands were full of broken light

the avenue was losing power

but every window burned white

somebody screamed into a phone

somebody prayed into the street

you pulled me through the siren fog

and found the rhythm underneath

**[Pre-Chorus]**

one more pulse

one more breath

one more song

before the rest

the ceiling cracks

the speakers shake

we move like nothing else can break

**[Chorus]**

we are dancing through collapse

black sky opening above us

dancing through collapse

like the ending came to love us

let the buildings lose their names

let the wires spit and spark

we will turn in little circles

while the city goes dark

dancing through collapse

dancing through collapse

**[Verse 2]**

The shopping mall was stripped and bare

mannequins faced the evacuation

we stole a bottle from the floor

and drank to failed civilization

the escalators froze in place

the fountains coughed up dust and wire

you wore a plastic bridal veil

I crowned myself with cable fire

outside, the armored engines rolled

inside, the bass erased the sound

we made a nightclub from the ruins

with emergency lights spinning round

**[Pre-Chorus]**

one more pulse

one more breath

one more beautiful defect

the walls lean in

the floor gives way

we keep the panic out of frame

**[Chorus]**

we are dancing through collapse

black sky opening above us

dancing through collapse

like the ending came to love us

let the buildings lose their names

let the wires spit and spark

we will turn in little circles

while the city goes dark

dancing through collapse

dancing through collapse

**[Post-Chorus — fractured]**

no future

no floor

no signal

no door

no rescue

no past

move faster

make it last

**[Verse 3]**

The river climbed the subway stairs

the satellites began to stutter

every screen repeated snow

every mouth repeated each other

you said,

“Nothing ever really ends,

it only loses its connection.”

then the skyline folded inward

like a failed projection

we could hear the metal buckle

we could feel the pressure rise

but your face stayed calm and empty

in the ultraviolet light

**[Bridge — spoken / degraded]**

This is not a celebration.

This is not denial.

This is what the body does

when language becomes useless.

This is what the body does

when the exits disappear.

left foot

right foot

beautiful animal

left foot

right foot

nothing is repairable

**[Breakdown]**

shake the ash out

shake the ash out

shake the ash out of your hair

turn the sirens louder

pretend they are music

pretend there is still air

hold me like a weapon

hold me like a lie

hold me until the power dies

**[Final Chorus]**

we are dancing through collapse

red dawn bleeding through the ceiling

dancing through collapse

past the point of human feeling

let the buildings lose their names

let the wires spit and spark

we will turn in little circles

while the city goes dark

we are dancing through collapse

with the dead screens all around us

dancing through collapse

like the end will never find us

when the final tower falls

when the final system stops

we will still be moving

we will still be moving

we will still be—

**[Outro — power failure]**

your hand

my hand

no ground

no land

one pulse

then none

the song

goes on

the song

goes on

the song—

**SIGNAL LOST**