Open the Ledger

[Verse 1]
When they lock the door, the price goes up
Bad hands take the cash, then they pass that cut
No paper trail, just a backroom hush
Folks buy blind and the rumors rush
What you hide from sight don’t vanish clean
It just moves in the dark where the dogs can’t see
Markups climb, and the weak get played
Same old game with a new red tape

[Pre-Chorus]
If you push it underground
You push the truth down
If you want to know the count
Let the numbers out

[Chorus]
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
Less distortion, more to see
Who’s selling what, and what it means
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
When the chain is clear
The truth gets near

[Verse 2]
Sex work in the shadows, hands get clipped
Workers skip the help, and the danger sticks
No safe report, no clean-up crew
No way to screen what’s coming through
Immigration lines push folks to tricks
Middlemen tax every cracked-up fix
Guns go missing in the gray-zone flow
And the only thing loud is what we don’t know
Prohibition writes a crooked map
Then blames the street for the trap

[Pre-Chorus]
If you push it underground
You push the truth down
If you want to know the count
Let the numbers out

[Chorus]
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
Less distortion, more to see
Who’s selling what, and what it means
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
When the chain is clear
The truth gets near

[Bridge]
Not every sale is a blessing
But every ban is a guessing
When the rules are plain
You can trace the pain
Regulate the lane
Keep the records clean
Put the smoke in the light
Let the public lean

[Final Chorus]
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
Less distortion, more to see
Who’s selling what, and what it means
Open the market, open the books
Open the market, look how it looks
When the chain is clear
The truth gets near