Ring of Fear

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
In the white room at NYU, November 2005,
Joseph LeDoux leans over the console,
his fingers tapping the keyboard like rain on glass.
The fMRI machine hums, a gray beast in the corner,
its coils whispering secrets to the dark.
You lie there, subject number 47,
your head cradled in plastic, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

[Chorus]
Oh, ring of fear, almond-shaped guardian,
amygdala pulsing red on the screen.
Born December 7, 1949, LeDoux mapped your paths,
from thalamus to cortex, a lightning road.
I speak to you now, intimate as breath,
don't fire so fast, don't lock me in ice.

[Verse 2]
The tone sounds, a single note at 440 Hz,
and your body freezes, rats in his lab did the same,
freezing in cages on that cold floor in 1994.
Scientific American page 50, his words etched:
Emotion, memory, the brain's hidden circuit.
I feel you now, in my chest, a tightening coil,
addressing you like an old lover, please, soften.

[Bridge]
The EEG cap's wires tangle like vines,
stale granola bar crumbs on the bench,
antiseptic air at 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
LeDoux's quote lingers: Fear is a brain state,
a neural circuit problem we can solve.
But here, close-miked, I whisper to the hum,
rewrite the map, let the blue pulses fade.

[Verse 3]
Late night, 11:30 PM, the machine's buzz vibrates through bone,
your scalp cool against the headrest,
warm breath fogging the mirror above.
From his book, Annual Review of Neuroscience 2000,
the pathways light up, but I choose to dim them.
Ring of fear, I address you directly,
no more tattoos of terror, just quiet release.

[Outro]
Oh, amygdala, my vigilant friend,
rest now, in this gilded synapse, rest.