Intro (Low, Spoken) Yeah… Look. This ain’t just me. Hook (Hymn / Choir Tone) Life been heavy on my shoulders, but I still stand straight. Same book, different pages, they don’t read— they judge my face. Different cities, same prayers, same hunger, same pain. They hear the noise, miss the meaning, call us broken, call us strange. Verse 1 (Storytelling) I ain’t get the privilege to be happy, had to earn calm the hard way. Soon as the trenches start actin’ like trenches, they treat you feral, like you a stray. Smile look wrong when you from pressure, pain don’t translate to them. They fear the outcome, ignore the process, never ask what it did to him. They say “be patient,” like patience pay rent. Say “be peaceful,” when peace ain’t present. I ain’t angry, I’m alert. Big difference, but they miss that. You don’t grow up dodgin’ stress and come out soft— that’s a mismatch. Hook (Hymn / Choir) Life been heavy on my shoulders, but I still stand straight. Same book, different pages, they don’t read— they judge my face. Different cities, same prayers, same hunger, same pain. They hear the noise, miss the meaning, call us broken, call us strange. Verse 2 (Storytelling / Broader Lens) They say Pittsburgh make soldiers— yeah, that’s facts, I won’t deny. But Baltimore know that same cold, Philly felt that same goodbye. Jersey nights breed the same grit, New York pain just talk louder. Boston quiet but it carry weight, same storm, different clouds over it. Different slang, different corners, same stress teachin’ survival. Same book, new chapters, same rules, just revised titles. They don’t read none of that though. Just skim the cover, judge fast. Scared of the hood but never sat in it, never learned why the scars last. They fear the noise, but never heard the reason. Fear the reaction, but skipped the season. Bridge (Hymn / Rising) If you read between the lines, you’d see we tried. If you lived a page or two, you’d understand why. We ain’t born hard, we adapted. Pressure made language, silence made habits. Verse 3 (Personal Turn) I stayed straight when it cost me time. Watched shortcuts get rewarded. Seen fake peace get applauded, while real patience got ignored. Helped folks when I barely had, did it quiet, no audience. Felt stupid till life circled back and proved endurance got dividends. They call us dangerous before damaged, label first, ask later. Love the product once it shine, but scared of the maker. That’s the part don’t sit right. That’s the truth they dodge. They want strength without the story, results without the scars. Hook (Hymn / Full) Life been heavy on my shoulders, but I still stand straight. Same book, different pages, they don’t read— they judge my face. Different cities, same prayers, same hunger, same pain. They hear the noise, miss the meaning, call us broken, call us strange. Outro (Quiet, Spoken) Different cities. Same book. They don’t read it. They rate the cover. I kept the pages.

Same book different pages