Ain’t No Man Owns My Soul

(Verse 1)
Sun cuts sharp through a broken sky
Same red dust, same long goodbye
Rooster crows and the day begins
Same old chains on weathered skin
They count me like they count their stock
Mark my name on a splintered block
But I been talkin’ to the Lord at night
And He don’t see me the way they write

(Pre-Chorus)
They can brand my shoulder
They can steal my years
But they ain’t got the power
To own what’s in here

(Chorus)
Ain’t no man owns my soul
Ain’t no whip can take control
You can lock these hands in iron
But there’s a fire you can’t hold
I was born beneath God’s sky
Same as you, same right
You can chain my body low
But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Verse 2)
Heard my woman cry last spring
When they sold her weddin’ ring
Heard my little boy ask why
Grown men gotta live this lie
That question cut me deeper still
Than any lash or overseer’s will
I held him close in the dead of night
Said “Son, your worth ain’t theirs to write.”

(Pre-Chorus)
Word is war’s been risin’ fast
Blue coats marchin’ through the pass
Maybe freedom’s on that road
Maybe justice finally woke

(Chorus)
Ain’t no man owns my soul
Ain’t no whip can take control
You can lock these hands in iron
But there’s a fire you can’t hold
I was born beneath God’s sky
Same as you, same right
You can chain my body low
But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Bridge – stripped down, almost whispered)
I may never see the gates swing wide
May never walk on the other side
But I believe… I believe…
Chains don’t cross eternity.

(Break – gritty vocal rise)
You hear that thunder roll?
That ain’t the storm alone…
That’s the sound of freedom
Knockin’ on the door.

(Final Chorus – lifted, defiant)
Ain’t no man owns my soul
Write it in the dirt and stone
If I fall before that day
Let it be forever known
I stood tall though I was bound
Heaven heard without a sound
You can bury this old body low
But ain’t no man owns my soul

(Outro – quiet, worn but steady)
Sun goin’ down…
But I’m still free inside.

Dark southern blues country, stripped acoustic, slide guitar, deep gravel male vocal, gospel undertones, slow build