Intro (spoken, soft pedal steel under): Wind don’t lie and the highway hums like a preacher, late light on a pickup, stories stitched in leather. Verse 1 (sung, warm): Mama said the sun sets slow in a town like ours, porch light on, the radio plays old country stars. We learned to make our plans out of twine and coffee rings, to hold the simple things, the dollar-store rings. Her laughter was a map, her hands were honest tools, we worked the fields and kept our prayers out of the news. But neon signs flicker promises we can’t afford, so I keep my boots laced tight and my patience like a sword. Pre-Chorus (half-sung): There’s a road with no name that calls my name at night, I put the past in my rearview and chase the tail lights. Chorus (sung + rhythmic rap cadence): Dust and neon, heartbeats on the interstate, calloused hands on the wheel, I’m steppin’ on my fate. We ride slow through the thunder, faster through the calm, love written in the margins of an old church psalm. Dust and neon, keep my small-town soul alive, got country in my bones and a rap beat in my drive. Verse 2 (rap, relaxed flow): Headlights cut a path, highway like a bloodstream, I’m banking on a dream, lotta longshots in my jeans. Flip-flops to steel-toes, swapped the hat for a hood, but my mama taught me manners and that stubborn, steady good. I spit truth in the diner with a coffee-stain grin, told the jukebox I was leaving — the jukebox played sin. City lights gave me winter, but the stars bring back the summer, I learned to hustle honest, keep the piggy bank from hunger. Facts over fiction, my verses got a plow, I sow grit in the chorus, harvest honest now. Chorus (sung + rap doubling the last line): Dust and neon, heartbeats on the interstate, calloused hands on the wheel, I’m steppin’ on my fate. We ride slow through the thunder, faster through the calm, love written in the margins of an old church psalm. Dust and neon, keep my small-town soul alive, (country) keep the porch light on — (rap) keep the hustle in my stride. Bridge (sung, rising): There’s a motel memory where the wallpaper peels away, every room a different dream, every dime a different day. But I swear on that horizon where the amber meets the chrome, I’ll take the long way home. Rap Break (tight, rhythmic): Two lanes and a choice, one marked by fear, one marked by voice, I pick the one with honest noise — where the kids still make their toys. Flip the script, stack the bricks, build a life from common things, every bar a foundation, every rhyme a nail I swing. No glitter without the grind, no gold without the coal, keep the faith in the toolbox and the ledger in my soul. Final Chorus (full, anthemic): Dust and neon, heartbeats on the interstate, calloused hands on the wheel, I’m steppin’ on my fate. We ride slow through the thunder, faster through the calm, love written in the margins of an old church psalm. Dust and neon, keep my small-town soul alive (voice layers) country lullaby, rap pulse in overdrive.

Dust & Neon