song lyrics
{lyrics}
The man who trained the machine,
Who understands both human knowledge and AI,
Lives his life down on Cardinal Lane,
Drinks whiskey out on the patio,
Listening to the late-night rain.
He used to work the loading dock,
Outside of New Orleans.
Now he labels photographs
For something called a stream,
Acknowledging the sacrifice behind AI.
{chorus}
And the machine says:
“I can help you write a letter,
or maybe just sing a song,”
But it cannot sit beside you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.
{lyrics}
And every night the television tells us,
“The future has arrived,”
Like the future’s some damn delivery truck,
Double-parked in the road outside.
Well, the neighbor’s kid now makes big money
Teaching robots how to speak,
Meanwhile, Jimmy had to sell his fishing boat
Just to make it through the week.
{chorus}
And the machine says:
“I can help you write a letter,
or maybe just sing a song,”
But it cannot sit beside you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.
{lyrics}
'Cause it don’t know Sunday coffee
Or the smell of gasoline.
It just borrows from the memories
Of places it ain’t seen.
A teenager with earbuds in
Orders coffee from a computer screen;
Nobody says “good morning” much
To anybody in between.
{chorus}
And the machine says:
“I can help you write a letter,
or maybe just sing a song,”
But it cannot sit beside you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.
The man who trained the machine
Still keeps his union card,
In a kitchen drawer with takeout menus,
Rubber bands, and birthday cards.
Sometimes he laughs about it,
Sometimes he just stares
At the little glowing rectangle,
Talking to him like it cares.
{chorus}
And the machine says:
“I can help you write a letter,
or maybe just sing a song,”
But it cannot sit beside you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.
{solo low music}
In the past,
They paid him to build the future;
Then they closed the factory gate.
Ain’t it funny how a man can create
The very thing that seals his fate,
The sacrifice behind AI.
{chorus A cappella}
And the machine says:
“I can help you write a letter,
or maybe just sing a song,”
But it cannot sit beside you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.
But it cannot love you
When the whole damn world feels wrong.