FORMAL NOTICE: THE BRIDGE I CAN BURN cover art

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FORMAL NOTICE: THE BRIDGE I CAN BURN

A fictional resignation ballad with Irish-folk drive; it is not an actual notice, legal communication, or factual allegation.

Creative context: This is a fictional resignation ballad, not an actual formal notice, legal communication, or factual account or allegation about a particular person or employer.

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This recording is served from the BridgeIncluded archive. View Suno source ↗

Words & signal

Lyrics

[Verse 1]
By the riverbank I found it,
Bridge of burden, bridge of years;
Built on orders, fear, and silence,
Held in place by debts and fears.
There I paid beyond all measure,
There I learned the cost to stay;
Now I sign in full awareness,
I withdraw and walk away.

[Verse 2]
Long I hammered at its timbers,
Long I strained to keep it whole;
Through the cracking of its rafters,
Through the grinding down my soul.
Some will shoulder chains much longer,
Some will name what cannot stand;
So with steady, sworn conviction,
I release it from my hand.

[Refrain]
This is the bridge I will burn,
Non in ira, sed in luce;
Let the ledger be my witness,
Keep the record, keep it kept.
I march on with fixed direction,
Name and conscience still intact;
This decision now is final,
And I will not take it back.

[Verse 3]
I return your keys and badges,
I leave paper, clear and plain;
I will neither shade nor color
What was signed in blood and strain.
I keep discipline and distance,
I cross not one forbidden line;
Let no hand recast this breaking
As consent or as resign.

[Refrain]
This is the bridge I will burn,
Non in ira, sed in luce;
Let the ledger be my witness,
Keep the record, keep it kept.
I march on with fixed direction,
Name and conscience still intact;
This decision now is final,
And I will not take it back.

[Verse 4]
Keep the archive hard and faithful,
Keep the logs and wages due;
Keep the closing free of theatre,
Cold, exacting, grim, and true.
If the chandeliers come falling,
Let that crashing pass from me;
I have carried what was given,
Now I leave the balance free.

[Bridge]
Let the record stand unbroken,
Let no hand revise the page;
Let no whispered friendly story
Wash the filings from the age.
For the ledger speaks in fullness
When the tongues of men fall still;
I depart in lawful order,
And I do no further ill.

[Final Refrain x2]
This is the bridge I will burn,
Non in ira, sed in luce;
Let the ledger be my witness,
Keep the record, keep it kept.
I march on with fixed direction,
Name and conscience still intact;
This decision now is final,
And I will not take it back.

This is the bridge I will burn,
By the river I make known;
What was carried past all measure
I am not still bound to own.
In manus veritatis,
I commend the rest to fact;
This decision now is final,
And I will not take it back.

Production notes
Direction
Defiant Irish folk protest ballad, marching pulse, minor key, bodhrán, fiddle, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar, roaring gang refrains, bitter and lawful, not romantic.
Palette
banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar
Voices
Lead vocal with ensemble response
Shape
Organic, story-forward arrangement