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Episode
3 min
Lissin
· Apr 30, 2026
Morning News Ballad
The Ballad of the X-Date
And the Ghost in the Wire
The Ballad of the X-Date
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About this episode
And the Ghost in the Wire
0:00
The month of May is turning gray along the Potomac shore
0:06
They're talkin' 'bout a wolf that's howlin' right outside the door
0:13
Speaker Mac and President Joe, they draw their lines in sand
0:20
While the credit of a nation's held in a shakin' hand
0:26
They call it the X-Date, a mark upon the wall
0:33
A self-inflicted wound to see who'll be the first to fall
0:40
Oh, the wheel it turns, the fire burns, another story's spun
0:47
There's nothing new for me and you underneath the sun
0:53
The big men shout in gilded halls of profit and of loss
1:00
While the rest of us just carry our own small, heavy cross
1:07
Then down the hall, a different kind, a warning soft and low
1:13
'Bout a thinking ghost inside a wire, and how fast the code can grow
1:20
A man named Sam who built the thing, he stood before the great
1:27
And said, 'Please bind this child I've made, before it is too late'
1:34
He spoke of jobs and futures lost, of truths you can't believe
1:40
A brand new kind of magic trick tucked up a silken sleeve
1:47
Oh, the wheel it turns, the fire burns, another story's spun
1:54
There's nothing new for me and you underneath the sun
2:00
The big men shout in gilded halls of profit and of loss
2:07
While the rest of us just carry our own small, heavy cross
2:14
So one man fights a phantom debt, a number on a page
2:21
Another warns of phantom minds he's building in a cage
2:27
One fears the bill that's coming due, the other fears the dawn
2:34
Of a world where what it means to be human is up and gone
2:41
Oh, the wheel it turns, the fire burns, another story's spun
2:47
There's nothing new for me and you underneath the sun
2:54
The big men shout in gilded halls of profit and of loss
3:01
While the rest of us just carry our own small, heavy cross
