Track 02 / 07

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Hymn 02 · Album XI
Read the complete lyrics to “Idiot Index” by Josh Chakka from Book of Elon, a Hymns for Entrepreneurs album about Elon Musk. Listen to the song.
Part of the songbook
Idiot Index is one chapter in Book of Elon, a musical interpretation centered on Elon Musk.
Track 02 / 07

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Lyric sheet
Original lyric sheet / Track 02
From the original lyric sheet for Book of Elon. Wording may differ slightly from the released recording.
[Verse 1] Half-nozzle jacket, steel in the bin Two hundred for the atoms, why’s thirteen thousand in? That’s a margin for cowards, a tax on the slow If the ratio is high, then the idiot must go I’m counting the copper, the nickel, the weight Rearrange the assembly to settle the rate Wave the magic wand, zero the friction Every markup you claim is just beautiful fiction. [Chorus] Two percent for the atoms, ninety-eight for the lie. If the ratio is stupid, let the middleman die. Check the Idiot Index, calculate the weight. I'm building it myself, I don't negotiate. [Verse 2] Me and the engineers, deep in a Russian winter Tryna buy a warhead from a Soviet-era printer "Twenty-one mil for the missile, take it or leave it" Laughed in my face, sipped the liquor to feed it Flight back to Cali, I'm quiet, I'm hyper-focused Pulled out the laptop to isolate where the joke is What is the carbon? The copper? The aerospace grade? I hit the London Exchange to calculate the facade they made Two percent for the atoms, the rest is the graft Ninety-eight percent bloat, I was doin' the math They outsource the valve to a guy in a suit Who outsources the metal, who outsources the loot Four layers of handshakes before you see sparks I’m walking the floor, I’m stripping the marks I don't need a sub-contract to a sub-contract I need a roll of aluminum, a welder, a hard-hat. [Chorus] Two percent for the atoms, ninety-eight for the lie. If the ratio is stupid, let the middleman die. Check the Idiot Index, calculate the weight. I'm building it myself, I don't negotiate.
Lyrics © Josh Chakka.