[Intro]
[muted saxophone riff, ambient keys in the background]
Streetlights drip, paint the pavement gold
Breath of the city, stories untold
808s hum, heartbeat cold
[Verse 1]
Corner-store aura, bags in hand,
Dreams tucked tight like contraband
Whispers in the alley, shadows expand,
Every soul here got a sinking sand
Mama’s voice echoes, “Stand your ground,”
But the ground’s quicksand, pulling me down
Jazz in my headphones, Coltrane’s sound
Trying to find a melody where chaos drowns
[Pre-Chorus]
Cigarette clouds dance in the moon's glow
Time moves slow, where do lost ones go?
[Chorus]
City smoke, it rises, it chokes
Every dream here drips, it soaks
City smoke, it swallows, it boasts
Breathin' in ghosts, breathin' in ghosts
[Verse 2]
Concrete jungle, roots in the cracks
History written in spray can tags
Sirens harmonize with the train tracks
My past is a weight in a burlap sack
Chessboard nights, pawns in play
Kingpin schemes under neon haze
Dreams slip like sand through an hourglass sway
Hustle or fade, no other way
[Bridge]
[gritty spoken word over piano chords]
The sax cries, a wounded wolf in the night
Lament for the streets, a flickering light
The 808s pulse, my heartbeat’s fight
A struggle for breath, in city smoke’s bite