[Verse 1]
Boarded windows
Broken glass in the gutter
Spray paint names
For the kids they put under
Red and blue
Paint the brick every summer
Another mom
Wakes up to a number
Sleep gets cut
By the siren’s stutter
Shots at one
Then the whispers mutter
I walk fast
Past the deals and the hunger
Headphones loud
Just to drown out the thunder
[Chorus]
Modesto’s burning in my rearview
Every cracked street tryin’ to pull me back
I keep driving through the black fumes
Heart on E but I won’t turn back
All this rust
All this heartbreak
All these ghosts I refuse to chase
Escaping Modesto
Before it buries my face
[Verse 2]
Tent city
On the edge of the river
Cold night air
Got a cruel little shiver
Kids skip class
For a fast little sliver
Of peace in a bag
Till their hands start to quiver
Gang tags carved
In the park-side benches
Fear gets thick
Like it’s stuck in the trenches
Every dream
Got a chain-link fence
So I wrote my name
On the exit entrance
[Chorus]
Modesto’s burning in my rearview
Every cracked street tryin’ to pull me back
I keep driving through the black fumes
Heart on E but I won’t turn back
All this rust
All this heartbreak
All these ghosts I refuse to chase
Escaping Modesto
Before it buries my face
[Bridge]
Will I be more
Than a cautionary story? (yeah)
Can I outrun
Everything that came before me? (before me)
If I make it out
Will they ever really know me?
Or am I just the kid
Who finally left the old me?
[Chorus]
Modesto’s burning in my rearview
Every cracked street tryin’ to pull me back
I keep driving through the black fumes
Heart on E but I won’t turn back
All this rust
All this heartbreak
All these ghosts I refuse to chase
Escaping Modesto
Before it buries my face