Rise Like A Stone

[Intro]
[Violin sings the melody
Soft guitar thumb-picking underneath]
[Verse 1]
Mud on my boots
Blood on my tongue
Name in the dirt
Song half-sung
You can taste that iron
In the back of your throat
That quiet little choir
Saying
"Kid
You won't cope"
[Chorus]
But I rise like a stone from the riverbed
Cold and cracked
But I'm not dead
You can throw me down
I remember the ground
Then I rise
I rise instead
(yeah, I rise)
[Verse 2]
Bar stool preacher
Says
"Son
That's life"
Cards come crooked
Blade meets knife
Every door slammed
Leaves a mark in the frame
Every time I stumble
I lean into the shame
[Chorus]
And I rise like a stone from the riverbed
Cold and cracked
But I'm not dead
You can break my skin
I breathe it back in
Then I rise
I rise instead
(oh I rise)
[Bridge]
Every bruise is a breadcrumb
Leading me home
Every loss is a lesson
Carved in the bone
When the wind says "stay down"
I answer alone
"I've made friends with the floor
But it won't be my throne" (hey!)
[Chorus]
So I rise like a stone from the riverbed
Cold and cracked
But I'm not dead
You can call it pride
I call it staying alive
I just rise
I rise instead
[Outro]
[Violin returns
Slow and raw
Over bare guitar]
I just rise
I rise instead

rock, Gritty Celtic-country rock with a haunting violin intro that blooms into rootsy fingerpicked acoustic guitar, steady kick, and low male vocals à la Cohen. Verses stay close and intimate, almost spoken; chorus widens with stacked baritone harmonies and a rough-edged fiddle counter-melody. Subtle bass and brushed snare add momentum; last chorus swells, then drops back to solo voice and violin for the final line., violin, deep