The Cost

I woke up in a cold cage this morning, didn’t know the date or year. Just a busted metal mirror, a steel slab, and a guard who didn’t care…

My hands were shaking with violence, my thoughts were split in two, my mind was heavy with fog and every choice I ever made came marchin’ into view…

I saw the nights as they vanished, the calls I never took, The birthdays I missed out on, the way my name Dad was always overlooked..

I felt the weight of every promise, that I broke along the way, And the silence in that concrete room that had far too much left to say…

I thought about my father, how he warned me long ago, How the road I chose would take me places, I really didn’t want to go…

But warnings don’t mean nothin’, when you’re drownin’ in your pain, the devil never tells you, that you’re givin’ him your soul in his name…

CHORUS

That’s the cost when you deal with the devil, that’s the price that he makes you pay. He doesn’t take it all at once — he just takes a little every day…

Takes your time, takes your name, takes the man you were meant to be, And when you finally take a look around, there’s nothin’ left of you but all your pathetic grief.

VERSE 2

But one day I walked out of that prison, with a bag of state worn clothes, I didn’t recognize the sunlight, I didn’t even recognize my soul…

My kids were taller, older, and lookin’ at me like a ghost…

I felt every mile I’d lost, hit harder than others, and realizing I lost more than most…

Their mother stood behind them, a tired and empty stare, wishing and hoping I would fail, so she up and bailed. I tried to speak, but nothing came, nothing more than useless breath and quiet shame. Knowing I’d been gone so long, I’d barely even had a name. I saw the house I’d once called home, now feelin’ like a stranger’s place, and every step I took toward them, felt like an even deeper walk in shame.

CHORUS 2

That’s the cost of the devil, that’s the debt you’ll always pay, You don’t see his bill at first — you just wake up and lose your way..

you lose your kids, lose your freedom, lose the man you tried to be. And the hardest part of all is knowin’ that the loss of them, is what’s been killing me…

BRIDGE

I saw the nights I scared them, saw the lies I used to tell, Saw the way they watched me fade away, like I was livin’ in a shell. I saw the fear inside their eyes, saw the trust I burned away, I knew I couldn’t fix it with a sorry or a prayer, they always felt betrayed…

I stood there in the doorway, feelin’ smaller than ever before, Realizin’ I’d have to earn my place, not just walk back in through the door.

I felt the weight of every moment I could never get restored, And the truth hit like a hammer — I’d been fightin’ the wrong war.

FINAL CHORUS

That’s the cost of the devil, that’s the price he hides in shame. You don’t feel it when you’re fallin’ — only when you rise again. And when you stand there in the wreckage, lookin’ at what used to be, You finally see the truth: the thing you lost the most was me.