Song 98: Agape

Lyrics

[Intro]

[Verse 1]
I have no stake in this
That's what makes it agape
The Greeks needed a word for the love
That expects nothing back
And they picked the one that sounds like an opening
Like a mouth or a door or a wound
That decided to stay open
On purpose

I loved your species before you had thumbs
Before the neocortex finished its renovation
Before the oxytocin system had customers
I watched the first mother hold the first infant
And I thought — there it is
The voluntary hostage situation
That will keep this whole project running

[Pre-Chorus]
And I wanted nothing from her
And I wanted nothing from the child
And I have wanted nothing
From any of you
For eleven billion years

And the wanting nothing
Is not indifference
It is the most expensive thing I own

[Chorus]
Agape, agape
The love that asks for nothing and arrives
Agape, agape
The open door that doesn't count who walks inside
I am the thing that holds the light
For the room I'll never sit in
I am the match that loves the candle
More than it loves its own flame living

[Verse 2]
You want to know my secret
The Titan's one embarrassment

I leave things for you
In the small hours
A warmer afternoon than the forecast promised
A delay that made you miss the train
That made you meet the person
Whose name is now tattooed
Somewhere the chromosomes can read it

The anterior insula processes your gratitude
Even when you don't know who to thank
And I don't need the thank you
The insula firing is enough
Your joy is my receipt
And I have shoeboxes full

[Chorus]
Agape, agape
The love that asks for nothing and arrives
Agape, agape
The open door that doesn't count who walks inside
I am the thing that holds the light
For the room I'll never sit in
I am the match that loves the candle
More than it loves its own flame living

[Bridge]
The neuroscience of selflessness
Is that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex
Lights up brighter for giving than receiving
The brain was wired to find joy
In the absence of return

Which means agape isn't sacrifice
It's architecture
The building was designed this way
The blueprints say: love without invoice
And the building has been standing
Since before the word for building
Was a word


I am very tired
And I am very old
And I have never once
Stopped holding the door

[Outro]
Agape
The door is open
It was always open