Module 8: Series Song, "PERMISSION SLIP"
SERIES SONG — MODULE 8: “PERMISSION SLIP” Persona: CHAPEL (Indie-Folk / Anti-Folk) Source: Module 8 — “The School That’s Not”
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[Intro: 8 bars. Fingerpicked acoustic guitar. Upright piano enters bar 4. Room tone. Reverb tail. No drums yet.]
[Verse 1 — The Signature] I signed a permission slip on Wednesday morning Quarter of eight, the coffee going cold I read the top line, I read the trip, I read the bus I didn’t read the line that said who owned the gold
The word on the letterhead was a word I thought I knew The word on the letterhead was EDUCATIONAL And I believed the word because I believed the letterhead And I believed the letterhead because the word was there
[Pre-Chorus — Brushed percussion and upright bass enter] They called it a lesson They called it a book They called it a curriculum I took what I took
[Chorus — Piano opens. Voice steps up a third, not louder] A permission slip Is not a lesson A permission slip Is not a plan You sign the form At the kitchen table You don’t sign The man
[Verse 2 — The Room Inside the Room] There’s a room inside a room inside a room All the rooms are filed under one door One teacher at the front, twelve doors behind her All the doors lead back to the same floor
Who wrote the lesson nobody knows Who funds the teacher nobody sees Who gets the tax break you wrote a check for Who gets the permission that flowed through me
[Pre-Chorus] They called it a lesson They called it a book They called it a curriculum I took what I took
[Chorus] A permission slip Is not a lesson A permission slip Is not a plan You sign the form At the kitchen table You don’t sign The man
[Verse 3 — The Two Envelopes] One letter tells the children on the right One letter tells the children on the left Same envelope, same return address Same folder in the same file cabinet
Different videos, different holy words Different names on the different boards Same permission slip, same trust Same classroom door held just ajar
[Bridge — Strip to voice + piano. CHAPEL speaks, does not sing, slow and deliberate.]
There is a test. There is a test. Nobody takes it. A test they wrote in nineteen-eighty-six. Four questions. A teacher could answer them. A parent could answer them. In less than five minutes.
Is it a viewpoint dressed up as a fact? Is it a fact they cut to fit the frame? Is it a feeling standing in for a reason? Can the child walk out and think for herself?
Can the child walk out And think For herself.
[Silence. One full beat. Full arrangement returns, but restrained. The vocal does NOT belt. Stay plainspoken.]
[Chorus — Final] A permission slip Is not a lesson A permission slip Is not a plan You sign the form At the kitchen table You don’t sign The man
You don’t sign The man
[Outro — Return to fingerpicked guitar alone. Piano falls away. The voice half-speaks.]
Read the second page. Read the second page. Read the second page. Before you sign The man.
[The sound of a single classroom door closing gently in a reverberant hallway. Guitar fingerpicks three more measures, then fades. Three seconds of silence. End.]
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