[Intro – Jacob Banks tone, low piano, faint choir]
A storm been comin’ since my father’s dawn,
Rain hit different when your roots are torn.
Taught to smile while they count our scars,
But I still see hope in who we are.
---
[Verse 1 – Jacob Banks voice, soul and truth]
They said freedom was a promise,
But they sold it like a prayer.
Told us kneel for mercy,
But we found our faith in despair.
They said peace comes after pain,
But I seen graves built from the chain.
Freedom’s like religion — it’s free when your fate is up,
When you’ve lost it all, and you still stand up.
---
[Verse 2 – Jelly Roll tone, deep grit and hurt]
I came from dust where the sirens cry,
Mama prayin’ we don’t die this time.
World keep spinnin’, but it don’t rewind,
So I pour my truth where the whiskey hides.
Can’t teach a man peace when he never had rest,
Can’t teach him love when he fightin’ his flesh.
I seen good hearts break just to feed the dream,
And the judge don’t care ‘bout the pain he seen.
---
[Bridge – Jacob Banks + Choir, hymn-like]
Still we rise when the sky turns red,
Still we sing though the blood been shed.
If freedom’s a cross, we’ll bear that weight,
For heaven’s a promise the lost still chase.
Freedom’s like religion — it costs your breath,
But it pays your soul when there’s nothing left.
They can chain your hands, but they can’t chain trust,
And they can’t kill hope when it’s born from us.
---
[Verse 3 – Joint section, Jelly Roll + Jacob call & response]
(Jelly) I walk through hell with my heart still clean,
(Jacob) I pray for a world that remembers dream.
(Jelly) I ain’t perfect, I still bleed,
(Jacob) But faith ain’t dead — it’s in our seed.
No flag can hold what the spirit frees,
No gun can kill what belief breathes.
The streets still speak in the voice of pain,
But the pain still sings — “we remain.”
---
[Outro – Jacob Banks lead, full choir in harmony]
Let the light find us through the smoke,
Let forgiveness break the yoke.
Freedom’s like religion — it lifts you up,
When your fate is sealed, and your faith’s enough.
We been beaten, but never broke,
Still we stand…
Still… we… stand.
(choir hum fades, last piano note holds)
---
SoviSilentHyena
