[intro: ticking clocks with noisy escapements count the seconds]
(why are things the way they are?)

[verse 1]
In a candlelit study where shadows held sway,
Leibniz pondered the cosmos, its elegant fray:
If God is all-wise and all-good, how to square
A world laced with suffering, yet perfectly fair?

[verse 2]
He weighed every cosmos, each possible thread,
Then chose this one’s balance of joy against dread.
The best of all worlds, where each pain has its place:
A divine equation of infinite grace.

[bridge]
While Newton chased fluxions through gravity’s pull,
Leibniz built calculus with elegant rules.

[verse 3]
Two minds split the infinite, rivals in fame,
Yet both glimpsed the order beneath Nature’s game.
So the philosopher smiled at his grand design—
This flawed, aching world is the best one we’ll find.

[outro; metallic choral voices call from far away]
Don't worry (fear not)
Don't worry...
We are living...
... in the best ...
... of all possible worlds...