[Verse 1] Started with a mission clear and bright Defense systems built to keep us safe at night But somewhere down the bureaucratic line The stakeholders began to redefine What success would look like in the end When contractors become your closest friend [Chorus] Captured by the voices that surround you Strategic lock-in keeps you spinning round Mission drifts away while stakeholders stay Geography protects what money built today Captured by design, mission left behind Strategic lock-in holds you to the ground [Verse 2] Spread the factories across fifty states Every congressman now participates Kill the program? Not when jobs are on the line Requirements grow by stakeholder design What we need gets lost in what they want Political survival becomes the font [Chorus] Captured by the voices that surround you Strategic lock-in keeps you spinning round Mission drifts away while stakeholders stay Geography protects what money built today Captured by design, mission left behind Strategic lock-in holds you to the ground [Bridge] Revolving doors spin round and round Former generals wear corporate crowns Program continuity over capability Institutional interests in harmony The mission becomes just justification For stakeholder wealth and preservation [Verse 3] Congressional committees hold the purse Regulatory capture makes it worse Allied governments want their piece of pie Original objectives wave goodbye Strategy becomes what stakeholders demand Mission requirements slip like shifting sand [Chorus] Captured by the voices that surround you Strategic lock-in keeps you spinning round Mission drifts away while stakeholders stay Geography protects what money built today Captured by design, mission left behind Strategic lock-in holds you to the ground [Outro] When stakeholder alignment becomes your way The mission fades a little more each day Strategic lock-in, captured by design The path back to purpose gets harder to find
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