09
No Way No Way(Back)
Growing up in Norway, there was always this quiet assumption that we were somehow different. A little richer, a little wiser, a little more innocent than the rest of the world. I've been thinking about what happens when that story starts falling apart. Maybe losing our moral high ground isn't the tragedy we think it is. Maybe it's just the uncomfortable realization that we're human, like everyone else.
No way, no way
No way back
We liked the story we were telling
clean hands, calm control
A place small enough for innocence
rich enough to feel whole
No way
We said we were different
We said we were spared
Turns out we were lucky
Turns out we were unprepared
No way, no way
We were saints all the way
No way, no way
Snow can’t hide the grey
We lost the holy throne
we built it on our own
Now we rise with unholy shame
but we rise the same
No way, no way
No way back
Precious metals in the morning
regal offences by night
We watch ourselves on global screens
and say, «we’ll be alright»
No way
We thought wealth meant wiser
We thought small meant safe
Now the spotlight’s steady
and it never looks away
No way, no way
We were clean all the way
No way, no way
Slogans made us pray
We lost the holy throne
we held it high to show
Now rise with unholy shame
We take all the blame
No way, no way
No way back
World’s well off people,
still learning how to fall
Turns out being human
means being judged by all
No way back
Maybe losing everything
isn’t a collapse
Maybe it’s just joining
the rest of the pack
No way, no way
No way back
No way, no way
No way back
No way, no way
No way back