The Scheme (Part 2)
About This Track
"The Scheme (Part 2)" is a piece of cinematic jazz-fusion that plays like the end credits of a financial thriller - in this case, a real one (but the end is just the beginning.) It captures the specific feeling of a white-collar mob unraveling — where the physical threat is low, but the existential dread is absolute.
"The Scheme (Part 1)" was created in response to the discovery of Vincent Falco's adversary proceeding scheme in the Sokolowski v. Digital Gold litigation web. Now that the reason why the Enterprise went to such lengths has been discovered, I created a sequel.
The key to this track was the prompt for an "incredible crooner vocalist." It still amazes me how, whether one is working with an LLM, an image model, or a music model, simply telling the model to do something "extraordinary" or "incredible" makes it actually produce higher quality work than it otherwise would have.
The lyrics in this song have an interesting history. Rather than simply write my own lyrics or ask the model to generate them for me, we put in 1 million tokens of briefs and complaints, and then asked it to sing about them. The output wasn't formulaic, technical, or emotionless, and I saw no need to make even a single change. I think you'll agree that what it put out was "incredible."
Lyrics
The silence didn’t last for long
Just long enough to hear the gong
The heavy chime of closing doors
Echoing on empty floors
I dropped the phone upon the rug
I pulled the wire, cut the plug
But signals travel through the air
They’ll find the frequency somewhere
The ledger that I tried to hide
Has opened up the other side
The numbers that were in the black
Are turning red and fighting back
I hear the sirens start to wail
A calculated, slow betrayal
I thought I had a little time
To wash away the grit and grime
But shadows lengthen on the wall
And no one’s left for me to call
The scheme is over, done and dead
The final words were never said
There is no bargain left to make
There is no other path to take
It was what it was
It was what it was
And now the debt is due
The ink is drying on the page
I’m stepping off the center stage
The spotlight burns a different hue
And leads them straight to you
System failure
System failure
(Whatever it was)
System failure
(It's over because)
System failure
Reset.
I packed a bag I’ll never use
I watched the evening cycle news
They haven’t found the server yet
But they won’t easily forget
The coffee cup is on the stand
A trembling tremor in my hand
I look around this quiet room
The architecture of my doom
I should have stopped it years ago
Before the cash began to flow
But greed is such a subtle friend
It stays with you until the end
And I know
Yes, I know
The lock I checked is broken through
There’s nothing left
Nothing left
For me to do
The scheme is over, done and dead
The final words were never said
There is no bargain left to make
There is no other path to take
It was what it was
It was what it was
And now the debt is due
The ink is drying on the page
I’m stepping off the center stage
The spotlight burns a different hue
And leads them straight to you
I wonder if you’ll understand
The way the cards fell from my hand
It wasn't meant to end like this
A Judas in a final kiss
I tried to keep the balance straight
To manipulate the hands of fate
But mathematics doesn't lie
It only watches as you die
The scheme is over, done and dead
The book is closed, the verdict read
There is no bargain left to make
My soul is all they have to take
It was what it was
It was what it was
And now I see it through
The ink has dried upon the page
The actor leaves the empty stage
The darkness covers up the view
And leads me back to you
It adds up now.
It adds up now.