Teeth Behind This Smile

[Verse 1]
They said be tough
They meant be cruel
Hand me a crown
Turn me a fool
‘Cause breaking things is easy
Any child can wreck a room
But holding back a lightning hand
Takes a different kind of boom
Got scars on my tongue
From the words I never threw
Knuckles stay clean
But I’ve bled for the truth
You think that I’m soft
‘Cause I keep my voice low
It takes a lion in the chest
Just to tell my rage “go”
[Chorus]
It takes teeth behind this smile
To stay kind in a world so wild
I won’t swing first, I won’t back down
That’s real steel in a gentle sound
Heart like armor, hands open wide
It’s a heavy kind of light I ride
You want strong?
Watch me stand, watch me stand and stay kind
[Verse 2]
I’ve seen cheap kings
Kick the weak when they fall
Build high walls
‘Cause they’re scared of it all
Justice ain’t a hashtag
It’s the bruise you take instead
When you step in for a stranger
With a target on your head
Talk loud about love
Then they fold when it costs
I’ll pay full price
For the ones the world lost
Look me in the eye
Say mercy’s a crime
You need courage just to care
In the worst of the times (yeah)
[Chorus]
It takes teeth behind this smile
To stay kind in a world so wild
I won’t swing first, I won’t back down
That’s real steel in a gentle sound
Heart like armor, hands open wide
It’s a heavy kind of light I ride
You want strong?
Watch me stand, watch me stand and stay kind
[Bridge]
[Beat drops to half-time, guitars ring out]
This ain’t weakness
This is war in slow motion
Every “please” that I speak
Is a chosen explosion
I could burn, I could break
But I build every time
Justice in my veins
Mercy in my spine (oh)
[Chorus]
It takes teeth behind this smile
To stay kind in a world so wild
I won’t swing first, I won’t back down
That’s real steel in a gentle sound
Heart like armor, hands open wide
It’s a heavy kind of light I ride
You want strong?
Watch me stand, watch me stand and stay kind
(Watch me stand, watch me stand and stay kind)

rap, Hybrid rap-rock-pop with male vocals; verses ride a swung, mid-tempo trap groove locked to crunchy palm-muted guitars and subby bass, hook explodes into an anthemic pop-rock chorus with stacked gang vocals and open chords. Drums hit hard with roomy snares and tom fills; second verse adds distorted 808 drops and filtered backing chants. Bridge strips to half-time beat, reverb-soaked guitars, intimate vocal, then slams back into a final, bigger chorus with octave doubles and ad-lib riffs., pop, rock