[Intro – Bare piano, room tone, breath] (Batiste plays a single repeated chord. You can hear the room. The air.) Yeah… This ain’t the pretty kind. This the kind you do when nobody clappin’, nobody recordin’, and heaven feel quiet. (Exhale.) ⸻ [Verse 1] 🎶 I messed up again, ain’t gon’ dress it in gold, Same weakness knockin’ like it know my code. I said I was done, said I turned that page, But temptation patient—and I still got age. I wish repentance felt like relief on demand, But it feel more like dirt in both hands. Like lookin’ at myself with no disguise, Admittin’ I still don’t trust You all the time. I didn’t fall back, but I tripped real hard, Skin on my knees, faith hit the yard. And the shame tried talk like it spoke for You, Said, “If you was real, you wouldn’t do this too.” 🎶 ⸻ [Hook – Choir low, restrained] 🎶 This repentance got dust on it, Tears in the dirt, hope still on it. I ain’t runnin’, I’m turnin’ again— Dust on my knees, but my face toward Him. 🎶 ⸻ [Verse 2] 🎶 I used to think repentance meant I failed the test, Like God surprised I ain’t been my best. But He already knew what I was made from, Still wrote my name, still called me son. Grace ain’t denial, grace ain’t delay, It’s power to turn when I lose my way. So I don’t hide now, I don’t perform, I come back honest, bent, and warm. I ain’t excusin’, I ain’t explainin’, I’m layin’ it down, not entertainin’. ‘Cause covenant mean I don’t disappear, I come back quicker every time I’m here. 🎶 ⸻ [Hook – Choir fuller, pain audible] 🎶 This repentance got dust on it, Ain’t clean yet, but God still want it. I don’t justify, I don’t defend— I just turn back and start again. 🎶 ⸻ [Bridge – French Tenor, quiet, mournful] 🎶 Je reviens à Toi, brisé mais vrai, (I return to You, broken but true,) Mes mains sont vides, mais mon cœur Te sait. (My hands are empty, but my heart knows You.) Je tombe encore, mais je me tourne, (I fall again, but I turn,) Ta grâce m’élève quand je m’écroule. (Your grace lifts me when I collapse.) 🎶 (Strings breathe in and out, like kneeling.) ⸻ [Verse 3 – Spoken-rap, almost whispered] 🎶 Look— I’m learnin’ repentance ain’t panic, It’s alignment. It ain’t self-hate, it’s hope that still answer. I don’t repent ‘cause I’m scared of You, I repent ‘cause I trust what You’ll do. You don’t kick me when I’m on the ground, You help me turn—then walk it out. So yeah, I fell… But I fell forward. I didn’t turn away, I turned quicker. And if all I can offer today is honesty and another yes— I’m bringin’ that. 🎶 ⸻ [Final Hook – Choir + soft piano lift] 🎶 This repentance got dust on it, But heaven still leanin’ on it. I ain’t perfect, I ain’t pretend— I’m just turnin’ back toward Him. 🎶 French Tenor (held, fragile): 🎶 Toujours je reviens. (I always return.) 🎶 ⸻ [Outro – Piano alone, faint breath] Yeah… I didn’t fall away. I fell forward. And I’m still facin’ Him.

REPENTANCE WITH DUST ON IT