[Verse 1]
Chain on my waist, no jewelry flex
Cold concrete where I pace my regrets
Guard at the door keeps checkin’ his watch
He bored as hell, my heart on the clock
Last meal half-touched, couldn’t taste a crumb
Mama sent a letter that made me numb
Ink still wet on the page she wrote
“Son, walk tall when they tighten that rope”
[Chorus]
So if I swing, I swing in silence
Every scar on me, a choir in the dark
If I swing, I swing in defiance
You can crush my neck, can’t crush my heart
If I swing, I swing, no cryin’
Let the last breath tear this doubt apart
If I swing, I swing, still fightin’
Hang my body, but you miss my soul by far
[Verse 2]
Click-clack
Echo in the hallway, toe-tag
Walkin’ in a line, no throwback
Mind runnin’ laps while the rope sag
Overhead, feel it like a ghost drag
Face covered up, they don’t see me
Only see a case in a brief sheet
Judge wrote fate in a neat sheet
Now my name spray-painted in the east streets
Priest say pray, but my faith weak
Still I talk to the sky when my knees creak
Heart on my sleeve, no long speech
Just “tell my lil’ sis dream big, don’t repeat” (yeah)
[Chorus]
So if I swing, I swing in silence
Every scar on me, a choir in the dark
If I swing, I swing in defiance
You can crush my neck, can’t crush my heart
If I swing, I swing, no cryin’
Let the last breath tear this doubt apart
If I swing, I swing, still fightin’
Hang my body, but you miss my soul by far
[Bridge]
[Beat drops, vocals chopped and glitched]
Heartbeat… stop… restart… (woah)
Tight rope sings like torn steel art
Whole life flash in a split-screen spark
Bright eyes, jail bars, then… dark
[Half-time melodic lift]
If this is it, let it shake the walls
If this is it, let my name outlast these halls
If this is it, let the blame fall, chains fall
Let the blame fall, chains fall
[Chorus]
So if I swing, I swing in silence
Every scar on me, a choir in the dark
If I swing, I swing in defiance
You can crush my neck, can’t crush my heart
If I swing, I swing, no cryin’
Let the last breath tear this doubt apart
If I swing, I swing, still fightin’
Hang my body, but you miss my soul by far