In “Love in Sector 9,” Cal Teller explores the gritty, bureaucratic side of the post-collapse world. While the previous tracks were about the isolation of the bunkers, this one is about the persistent connection across the “districts.” Sector 9 sounds like a place where “they ration dreams” and “tax the air,” but it’s also the backdrop for a love that thrives on “static and grime.”
The Guerilla Frequency
This track has a steady, driving rhythm—perhaps a looped beat made from the mechanical clicking of a “busted console.” Cal portrays love not as a luxury, but as a form of resistance. To “trade sleep” and “stitch signals” is an act of defiance against a world that tries to “jam the towers” and “flood the wires.”
The imagery is peak Teller: trading “roses and wine” for “voices on loop” and “power lines.” He reframes the survivors’ status as “ghosts” into something powerful; ghosts can’t be caught, and their laughter on the “weathercast” is a signal that the authorities can’t fully suppress.
Still Kicking, Still Mine
The heart of the song is the resilience of the individual connection. Despite the blackouts and the falling cities, Cal insists that “love won’t fade.” There is a beautiful simplicity in the promise: “Not lost, not gone, just out of line.” It’s a message to everyone in the wasteland that being “out of line” with the current world is the only way to stay true to the people you love.
LOVE IN SECTOR 9
by: Cal Teller
The lights went out the walls went cold
But I heard your voice through a busted console
You said the nights long but Im still fine
Thats how I knew loves alive in Sector 9
They ration dreams they tax the air
But I trade my sleep just to find you there
I keep your signal stitched in mine
Through every blackout in Sector 9
Love in Sector 9 dont need roses dont need time
Just your voice on loop through the static and grime
If the world breaks down well be just fine
Youve got my heart deep down in Sector 9
They called us ghosts said hope dont last
But I hear you laugh on the weathercast
You say still kicking and youre still mine
And I spin that tape in Sector 9
They can jam the towers flood the wires
Cut the power light no fires
But love wont fade not this time
Youre my frequency in Sector 9
Love in Sector 9 no perfume no wine
Just one soft voice and a power line
Let the cities fall well still shine
You and me right here in Sector 9
So tune me in when the sky goes black
Ill be waiting just like that
Not lost not gone just out of line
Still in love still yours