

Prompt / Lyrics
[Verse 1] Morning bus stop Tiny shoes on the curb Names on plastic lunchboxes Faces pressed to the glass One doesn’t come home Coat on the hook Room still messy Bed still warm We say “Probably a mix-up Probably a phone Probably fine” But the plate gets cold The dog keeps staring The doorframe leans Waiting [Chorus] Where are the children Who took their laughter out the yard Who folded up the hopscotch chalk Who emptied every swing in the park Where are the children Why does the silence feel rehearsed Who’s taking our children Will we ever see them again [Verse 2] Posters on the lamp posts Printer ink running in the rain Same question in different fonts “Have you seen…?” Screens glow blue at midnight Comments pile like flowers “Praying” “Sharing” Scroll Forget Police lines Traffic cones Flashing colors on wet asphalt Neighbors whisper on their porches Lock one more bolt on the door We tell ourselves old stories “When we were kids We rode our bikes till dark We came back” But the world shifted Street by street Click by quiet click And nobody heard the latch [Chorus] Where are the children Who took their drawings off the fridge Who left their games stuck on pause Who never finished second grade Where are the children Why does the silence feel rehearsed Who’s taking our children Will we ever see them again [Bridge] Is it a stranger in a hallway A trusted smile at the gate A car that slows Just long enough Is it a system built on looking away On “not my problem” On “not my kid” How many red flags Folded into paper planes Thrown in the dark [Chorus] Where are the children Call their names till your throat breaks Hang their faces on our conscience Till the whole sky starts to shake Where are the children Why does the silence sound like consent Who’s taking our children Will we ever see them again [Outro] Count the empty chairs at dinner Count the backpacks by the door Say their names Out loud Again Where are the children (Where are the children)
Tags
Sparse spoken-word over ominous drone and low percussion swells, male vocals close-mic’d and intimate. Sub-bass pulses like a distant heartbeat; occasional piano clusters and reversed textures rise beneath key phrases. Chorus brings layered whispers and a slightly wider stereo field, then everything drops to near-silence for the final line. Dark, cinematic tension that never fully resolves., world, spoken word, male vocals
4:42
No
2/17/2026