Mall of the Afterlife (Final Closing)

[Intro] (The track opens with the faint, echoing sound of a generic 90s mall fountain, which slowly fades into a distorted, looping Muzak sample. A low, electric hum underlies everything.) The clock on the food court wall is frozen at 9:02 PM. The steel gates are down. The closing announcement never came.

[Verse 1] The fluorescent hum is the only friend I know Dusty skylight watching over the phantom fashion show The fountain's dry, where we made all our wishes Now the coins are green with envy for the life that this dismisses I walk the sterile tile of my own mausoleum Past a sun-faded poster for a summer blockbuster season I'm a ghost in the air conditioning, a whisper in the vents Tryna make a bit of sense of this hollow residence.

[Chorus] Welcome to the Mall of the Afterlife Where the Muzak is a sad, forgotten song I'm just window shopping for a life I used to know Wonderin' where it all went wrong Yeah, I'm stuck inside the Mall of the Afterlife Another loop around the empty second floor Every day's a final closing, but they never lock the door.

[Verse 2] The food court is a silent tomb of plastic trays and chairs I can still hear the echoes of a thousand teenage prayers And conversations, hang-ups, first dates and last goodbyes All buried under dust motes in my holographic eyes The mannequins in Sears are frozen in a dead display They got a better posture than I've ever had, I'd say They're staring into nothing, a look I understand Forever trapped inside this faded, promised land.

[Chorus] Welcome to the Mall of the Afterlife Where the Muzak is a sad, forgotten song I'm just window shopping for a life I used to know Wonderin' where it all went wrong Yeah, I'm stuck inside the Mall of the Afterlife Another loop around the empty second floor Every day's a final closing, but they never lock the door.

[Bridge] Is this a memory, or is this all that's left? Of a culture and a feeling, a victim of a theft? The escalators are still, a stairway to the void A monument to all the joy that has been destroyed.

[Outro] (The beat fades away, leaving only the warped, looping Muzak and the electric hum.) Last call for shoppers... Last call... Forever... (The Muzak sample glitches and cuts out, leaving only a low hum that fades to silence.)