Laughter is a Haunting Sound

Laughter is a haunting sound
You’d think the world would figure it out

A child is crying
Alone in the street
Starving
A businessman and his friend
Are in a “meeting”
Pouring 100 year old champagne
Laughing
At a joke
that is more cruel than funny
But it's alright
They’re in safe company
To gripe and moan
About the toppling of the status quo
That gives them
Jets, estates, inheritance
And leaves a child crying
In the street
Starving

Laughter is a haunting sound
The protesters are crying out
How can you laugh
While people are dying
For their freedom

Leisure abounds
In the houses
In the suburbs
They live far far away
From the cities on fire
Where people of color are fighting for their lives
They wear their security like a medal
Laughing as if they earned it
“We’re better than them
It's the only explanation.
It's only natural”

They forget about the system
We created

Laughter is a haunting sound
Lone women in boardrooms have long since figured it out

The jokes they make aren’t even original
The same thousand year old material
It's all “ball and chain”
“Stake your claim”
And
“Women aren’t funny”

“It's not harassment
It's a joke
And if she doesn’t laugh
She’s crazy”

Laughter is a haunting sound
Even wedding halls have figured it out

A touching wedding speech from a father
In seconds he’s got the room doubled over
Laughing
He’s hilarious
So much so
That you might have missed it
His toast included
A nod to“Traditional Marriage”
And took a jab
At the homosexuals
Threatening it
The girl sitting in the back of the room
Doesn’t find it as funny
As the rest of them

Laughter is a haunting sound
Why hasn’t the world figured it out
Maybe they’ve spent
Too much time listening
To the one’s doing the laughing