The Noise

[Intro — bass / drums / guitar / brass]
[Verse 1 — Male vocal]
Every morning someone tells us
who to fear and who to trust.
A picture fills the screen,
a sentence starts a fire,
and before the story reaches us
we have already chosen sides.
One voice says the world is ending.
Another says there's nothing wrong.
A thousand people join the argument,
and nobody hears the question.
[Chorus]
There is so much noise around us,
I can barely hear a human voice.
Every answer comes before the question,
every silence looks like a choice.
There is so much noise around us,
everywhere I turn another fight.
Maybe we should leave a little space
for the words, “I don't know.”
[Instrumental — bass / guitar / brass]
[Verse 2]
They know exactly where we're angry.
They know exactly what will spread.
A photograph becomes a weapon,
a sentence becomes a wall.
We pass it on before we read it,
we repeat it because it fits.
And somewhere underneath the shouting
a stranger is still trying to speak.
[Female vocal]
Stop.
Listen.
What if the person you hate
has never heard your story?
[Male vocal]
What if I listened?
[Instrumental — ska/reggae break]
[Verse 3]
I don't want a world where everyone
agrees about everything.
The old man and the young woman,
the believer and the one who doubts,
should all be free to disagree
without becoming enemies.
Freedom isn't hearing only
the voices that sound like mine.
It begins when I can listen
without needing to win.
[Bridge — stripped down]
Before I press the button,
before I share the story,
before I turn a stranger
into someone I must fear,
let me breathe.
Let me read it once again.
Let me ask who needs my anger.
[Instrumental — bass and brass build]
[Final Chorus]
There is so much noise around us,
I can barely hear a human voice.
Every answer comes before the question,
every silence looks like a choice.
There is so much noise around us,
but I don't want fewer voices tonight.
I want to hear them.
Let them speak.
Outro — bass