Grind Through The Gravel

[Intro]
Staring at the ceiling
Cracks look like maps
Every line another story
Of the things I never had
[Verse 1]
Mama folding bills in the dark
Rent late, prayers loud
Fridge humming like it’s nervous
Half-empty, half-proud
Shoes by the door, soles talking
Miles in the mouths of the old
Outside, kids chase a weekend
Inside, we chase control
I used to draw mansions in margins
Desk wobble, heart sore
Teacher said “aim for the stars”
I was aiming for the store
For the discount bread
For the long bus ride
Pretending that the window
Was a way-out sky
[Chorus]
This is pain I can’t just pray away
Got my hands in the dirt every day
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
World on my back, but I still don’t break
Turn that weight to a step I take
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
[Verse 2]
Talk tough but I bleed like you
Same red on the sink when the stress cuts through
Same eyes in the glass, don’t know who’s who
Is that the kid I was, or the ghost I grew?
Missed calls from my past on the lock screen blinking
Old friends sinking, new ones linking
Everybody say “change,” but they only mean “winning”
They don’t see the nights that begin with spinning
Room doing laps round my mind
Anxiety tapping on the spine
Hope on read, faith on hold
Still I lace these shoes and go
I’ve been broke in the pockets and the spirit
Had to talk to myself just to hear it
Voice in my chest saying “stand back up”
Every tear on the floor just a seed in the dust
[Chorus]
This is pain I can’t just pray away
Got my hands in the dirt every day
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
World on my back, but I still don’t break
Turn that weight to a step I take
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
[Bridge]
Who’s gonna love you when you’re empty?
Who’s gonna ride when the tank on E?
Who gonna answer when you call at three?
Sometimes it’s just the echo and the beat in your teeth
So I learn how to stand in the silence
Make peace with the bruise and the violence
Turn anger into fuel in the bloodstream
Turn “never going happen” to a must-be
[Verse 3]
I seen fathers fade like smoke
Kids grow up on a folding chair throne
Mama did double-time, triple-shift bones
Laughing so we wouldn’t feel alone
I carry that laugh like a blade and a shield
Cut through the doubt, guard what I feel
When the world says “break,” I answer “bend”
I don’t fold, I learn, I mend
Pain taught me how to read a room quick
Who clap for your wins, who hope you miss
Who love your light, who love your dim
Who drink from your cup, never learn to swim
So I move with a smaller circle
Big heart, but the trust more careful
Still walking through the storm, straight-backed, tearful
But every drop on my face make the ground more fertile (yeah)
[Chorus]
This is pain I can’t just pray away
Got my hands in the dirt every day
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
World on my back, but I still don’t break
Turn that weight to a step I take
Every scar, every loss I cradle
I grind through the gravel, I grind through the gravel
[Outro]
One step, then another
One breath, then one more
If all I ever own is this struggle
I’ll still leave richer than before

rap, Moody, head-nod rap over a slow, grimy drum groove and brooding keys; male vocals spitting tight, poetic verses up close and dry, with subtle octave-doubled phrases on key lines. Sparse bass pulses under the verses, then the hook widens with airy vocal layers and distant choir pads. Energy grows in the last verse with slightly more aggressive drums and ad-libs, then drops to almost a cappella on the final hook for a raw, intimate close., poetry