Lyrics

Contdown on a clipboard
Cold ink
Clean hands
Fluorescent halo
Over your wedding band

You say
“I’m so so tired”
I say “We can ease the pain”
White coats rhyme off options
Like pills for the rain
We built these quiet machines
To cradle every nerve
Now they whisper you an exit
You don’t deserve

Is this mercy or demand?
Who is pushing whose hand?
When comfort turns to a plan
To erase what we can’t stand
You sign your name
I lose my life
While they call it “dignified”
I’m screaming
“Stay”
And they stand by
Mercy on demand
As you close your eyes

You apologize for breathing
For the weight of every bill
You say
“I’m done being a burden”
Their silence says
“We can help you be still”
They call it “choice
“ so gentle
As they wheel you down the hall
Like a form we file on Friday
Just another call

Is this mercy or demand?
Who is pushing whose hand?
When comfort turns to a plan
To erase what we can’t stand
You sign your name
I lose my life
While they call it “dignified”
I’m screaming
“Stay”
And they stand by
Mercy on demand
As you close your eyes

Where does this road end?
When the tired are “too expensive”
When the lonely
The depressed
Fit the checklist
Look “defensive”
Who guards the weak
From the ones who say they care? (yeah)
Who counts the cost
For the ones left in the chair?

Is this mercy or demand?
Who is pushing whose hand?
When comfort turns to a plan
To erase what we can’t stand
You sign your name
I lose my life
While they call it “dignified”
I’m holding on
To your fading light
Mercy on demand
And I’m buried alive