“Gilded Iron Blues”
(Jazz-Rock-Blues Fusion — lyrics + musical feel)
Tempo: 84 BPM, swing-rock hybrid
Instrument Flavor: muted trumpet, dirty Rhodes, walking bass slipping into syncopated rock groove, brushed drums turning heavy on the chorus, electric guitar with a brass-colored bite.
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[VERSE 1]
Streetlights hum like a sinner sayin’ grace,
Another long night wearin’ yesterday’s face.
Bootsteps echo down that concrete spine,
I’m a shadow with a heartbeat, tryin’ to stay in line.
Got trouble in my pocket, danger on my sleeve,
A badge of borrowed power and a vow I can’t relieve.
If the gods don’t play dice, then the devils sure do—
And they’re loadin’ every one, just to aim ‘em at you.
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[PRE-CHORUS]
I hear the city breathing like a wounded machine,
Gold on the surface… iron in between.
Every truth I chase slips under neon and rain,
Every lie tastes sweet until it bleeds with my name.
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[CHORUS]
Oh, this gilded iron blues,
Where every deal cuts deep and every soul’s got somethin’ to lose.
Yeah, the light looks holy ‘til you burn right through—
And the shine ain’t real, not like the bruise.
This gilded… this gilded iron blues.
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[VERSE 2]
Carter’s got his kingdoms built on smoke and aether,
Promises wrapped tight like a noose of leather.
Maddox walks the line where the law won’t tread,
Half hero, half hitman, half already dead.
Thomas hears the whispers in the cracks of the street,
Victoria’s fire dances where the broken ones meet.
Fate’s a crooked dealer with a rigged little smile—
But I keep buying in, just to break for a while.
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[PRE-CHORUS]
The rhythm of the alley is a sermon in black,
Past’s on my shoulder, keepin’ time on my back.
Every heart I’ve buried, every oath I’ve betrayed—
They tune the horn section when the daylight fades.
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[CHORUS]
Oh, this gilded iron blues,
Where your halo bends quick and the nights don’t ever refuse.
Yeah, the truth hits harder when it comes in two’s—
Love or violence — you don’t get to choose.
This gilded… this gilded iron blues.
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[BRIDGE — Instrumental]
(Electric guitar riff climbs in over a chromatic Rhodes progression.
Muted trumpet wails a low, smoky line like something confessing to a crime.)
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[BREAKDOWN – SPOKEN/WHISPERED]
Funny thing ‘bout power…
you never notice the cage
‘til you hear the lock click
from the inside.
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[FINAL CHORUS — HEAVIER GROOVE]
**Yeah, these gilded iron blues,
Where the heart learns fightin’ and the soul learns how to bruise.
If redemption’s a rumor, then damn—what’s left to choose?
Just a man, a mission,
and a world he can’t refuse.
These gilded…
these gilded iron blues.**
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[OUTRO – INSTRUMENTAL]
Trumpet fades like a dying streetlamp.
Guitar bends into silence.
Drums stop on a heartbeat.
