System on the Run

Lyrics

[Intro]

In the dim Harvard lab, 1915,
Walter Cannon leans over the wooden bench,
his metal stethoscope cold against the cat's fur.
You, my racing system, always on the run.

[Verse 1]
Feel the ether's bite in the air,
that acrid tang mixing with musty books.
Cannon's notebook, ink-smudged pages turning,
documenting how fear floods the blood.
Adrenaline surges, heart pounds like a kymograph drum.
I whisper to you, my nerves,
don't flee just yet.

[Chorus]
System on the run, fight or flight,
Cannon called it in that chilly room, 60 degrees,
late afternoon gaslight flickering.
You prepare for the supreme effort,
but here, in this quiet,
I hold you still.

[Verse 2]
The cat sheds fur instantly, a curious side effect,
nature's alarm in black coffee steam rising from a chipped mug.
Walter, age 41, scribbles the quote:
'Bodily changes in intense states,
preparations for fight or flight.'
My love, this polygraph traces your escape,
but I breathe you back.

[Bridge]

Unseen assistants calm the animals,
their hands unrecorded, like your hidden tremors.
What if we rewrite the response,
turn run into root?

[Verse 3]
From Harvard archives, 1910 to 1920,
the void of animal eyes, undocumented fear.
You, my synaptic rush,
slow now, in this imagined warmth.
No more supreme effort without choice.

[Chorus]
System on the run, fight or flight,
Cannon called it in that chilly room, 60 degrees,
late afternoon gaslight flickering.
You prepare for the supreme effort,
but here, in this quiet,
I hold you still.

[Outro]

Walter's gone, 1945,
but you, my system, learn to stay.
Resilience in the deep, no more running blind.