[Verse]

The morning fog hangs heavy over Washington Square

A thousand scholars wearing a heavy-eyed stare

I spent my midnight tracing every paper trail

Just to watch the green lights on the dashboard fail

The glass elevators rise through the library air

But the treasury door is locked and nobody is there

[Chorus]

Oh the heart of a dean is a fragile thing

Waiting for the phone in the lobby to ring

But the system says no and the pixels turn gray

Another meal at the deli that I have to pay

Like a prom date who never showed up for the dance

I’m begging for mercy on a local advance

Yeah we’re crying in the hallways of the Silver school

Breaking our spirits for a fiscal rule

[Chorus]

Oh the heart of a dean is a fragile thing

Waiting for the phone in the lobby to ring

But the system says no and the pixels turn gray

Another meal at the deli that I have to pay

Like a prom date who never showed up for the dance

I’m begging for mercy on a local advance

Yeah we’re crying in the hallways of the Silver school

Breaking our spirits for a fiscal rule

[Bridge]

Scanned every receipt from the taxi to the bread

Now the red ink is blooming in the garden of my head

I uploaded the soul of a tenure-track life

Just to get caught in the teeth of administrative strife

It’s a digital ghost with a cold iron hand

Denying the soil of this academic land

[Verse]

I walked past the arches with a hole in my boot

Searching for the fruit of a corporate pursuit

The faculty lounge is a wake for the dead

Reading the emails that the robot just sent

We’re poets and masters of a high-minded craft

Sinking together on a budget-cut raft

[Chorus]

Oh the heart of a dean is a fragile thing

Waiting for the phone in the lobby to ring

But the system says no and the pixels turn gray

Another meal at the deli that I have to pay

Like a prom date who never showed up for the dance

I’m begging for mercy on a local advance

Yeah we’re crying in the hallways of the Silver school

Breaking our spirits for a fiscal rule

[Chorus]

Oh the heart of a dean is a fragile thing

Waiting for the phone in the lobby to ring

But the system says no and the pixels turn gray

Another meal at the deli that I have to pay

Like a prom date who never showed up for the dance

I’m begging for mercy on a local advance

Yeah we’re crying in the hallways of the Silver school

Breaking our spirits for a fiscal rule

[Outro]