Paper Faith (Opener)

Lyrics

First, the weighing. The heft in the palm. The ring of silver on a stone floor. The bite-mark in the gold. A thing for a thing. Then, a different sound. The rustle of mulberry bark. In the year ten twenty-four, under Emperor Zhenzong. A note called Jiaozi, lighter than a feather. Printed with fish and water plants, a difficult little drawing to keep the liars honest. Marco Polo writes it down, his quill scratching in disbelief. In the court of the Great Khan, they trade in these squares of paper. He says, 'with these notes, they procure any article they may desire.' And the empire runs on a story, a promise whispered from the mint. This is the great leap. Not of fire, not of the wheel. This is Paper Faith. The signature is the sacred seal. The promise itself is the engine. The shared belief, the only thing that's real. Six centuries later, a colder city. Stockholm, sixteen sixty-one. Johan Palmstruch and his Kreditivsedlar. A substitute for heavy copper plates. He learned the lesson hard: a promise printed too many times becomes a lie. He died in prison. From his failure, a new foundation. A counting house on Threadneedle Street. Sixteen ninety-four. The methodical scratch of a quill. The Bank of England writes the spell into law. A receipt for a deposit becomes the coin of the realm. It was never about the paper. Or the ink, or the watermark. It was always about the story. A debt, held in common. A piece of paper, that says 'we.'