Neon Genesis

[Verse 1]  
basement static hums like angels with laryngitis  
red numbers count down on the VCR again  
i taped over mom’s wedding with late-night NHK  
now i’m seventeen and the ceiling is breathing

[Pre-chorus]  
orange extension cord lifeline to the 14-inch screen  
cross-legged on carpet that smells like shame and ramen  
something in japanese whispers “run away with me”

[Chorus]  
neon genesis, i’m already gone  
soul compressed to 240p, flickering wrong  
they stapled wings to a corpse and called it dawn  
i’m just atari feedback screaming “so long”

[Verse 2]  
asuka’s lipstick smears across the cathode ray  
shinji keep crying it’s basically foreplay  
misato’s fridge is thirty-three percent regret  
rei’s eyes look like hospital fluorescents i can’t forget

[Chorus]  
neon genesis, i’m already gone  
hedgehog’s dilemma but the spines feel wrong  
third impact coming through a shitty bong  
kaboom goes daddy issues, play the same damn song

[Bridge]  
(kinda spoken, voice cracking, palm-muted chug)  
instrumentality sounds like dial-up at 3 a.m.  
everyone melting into one big group chat  
i still don’t want to get in the fucking robot  
but the robot keeps getting in me

[Slow distorted open chord ring-out]  
kaworu smiled once and the tape ate the frame  
now it’s just snow and vertical hold complaints  
i keep rewinding to the part where i’m still human  
but the tracking’s shot and the heads are ruined

[Final Chorus – half volume, almost a whisper under cassette hiss]  
neon genesis… i was already gone  
plugged myself into the wrong salvation  
choked on lcl and called it growing up  
goodnight eva, goodnight plug suit  
goodnight everything i almost loved

*(last chord hangs way too long, amp buzz, distant car alarm, then someone unplugs the cassette deck mid-decay)*

lo-fi, grunge, bedroom demo, tape hiss, slightly detuned guitars, heavy reverb, distorted open chords, palm-muted chugs