Carnival of Dead Roads

[Intro]
[calliope warping in the distance]
Welcome to the last show
Mud on your boots
Blood on the window
[Verse 1]
I ride in on a rusted swing gate
Flask full of guilt, heart full of mistakes
Boot-cut denim with the dust in the seams
Grin like a scarecrow ripping at the beams
Graveyard gravel in the back of my throat
Tattooed names that I never even wrote
Two-step shuffle on a plank that creaks
Every stomp sounds like something screams
[Chorus]
Welcome to the carnival of dead roads
Where the big top sags and the wind blows cold
Laugh if you want, but the jokes get old
When the clowns wear your face, when your story’s told
(Carnival, carnival) under cracked halos
(Carnival, carnival) where the dark don’t close
Step right up, lose your soul for a prize
Whole wide sky in a butchered sunrise
[Verse 2]
She steps out, straw hat, lips blood-red
Lasso on her hip, halo made of spiderweb
Boot heels clicking like a countdown clock
Eyes say “stay,” but the smile says “walk”
She hums low like a hymn from the pit
Spits black tobacco and a Bible verse with it
“Boy, you can ride, or you can be rode”
Then she loads my name in a barbed-wire ode
[Chorus]
Welcome to the carnival of dead roads
Where the big top sags and the wind blows cold
Laugh if you want, but the jokes get old
When the clowns wear your face, when your story’s told
(Carnival, carnival) under cracked halos
(Carnival, carnival) where the dark don’t close
Step right up, lose your soul for a prize
Whole wide sky in a butchered sunrise
[Bridge]
[whip crack, warped calliope swell]
Male voice: I’m the barker with the stitched-up grin
Female voice: I’m the saint with the snake in her skin
Together: We take your sins like tickets at the door
Each one stamped, then we ask for more (more)
[Chorus]
Welcome to the carnival of dead roads
Where the big top sags and the wind blows cold
Laugh if you want, but the jokes get old
When the clowns wear your face, when your story’s told
(Carnival, carnival) under cracked halos
(Carnival, carnival) where the dark don’t close
Step right up, lose your soul for a prize
Last ride out is the one where you rise (hey)

rap, Hard-hitting horrorcore rap over warped circus melodies and brooding dark-ambient pads. Male and female vocals trading verses; hook in unison with eerie childlike backing harmonies. Heavy, saturated drums and sub-bass thumps; occasional whip cracks, creaking wood, distant crowd noise as sound design. Verses stay tight and aggressive, chorus opens wide and anthemic, final repeat drops most instruments for a chilling near-a cappella feel before a distorted, echoing hit closes the track., hardcore, horrorcore, freestyle, dark ambient, country