Between the lanes and the gutter

Verse 1

I was a polished ball on a borrowed rack,

Finger holes carved from a past I couldn't take back,

They lined me up under flickering light,

Told me aim for the pins, keep it straight, keep it right.

But my hands were shaking from things I won't say,

Old scars in my grip made me drift either way, Every roll had a whisper, every spin had a cost,

Sometimes I found the pocket, sometimes I got lost.

Pre-Chorus

The oil on the lane don't show what you feel,

It hides every doubt like it's part of the deal.

Chorus

Am I headed for the strike or the gutter tonight?

Is this love or a fall dressed up as right?

Every choice that I make, every turn of the wrist,

Is a chance I could land or a life that I've missed.

Friends cheer in the glow, then fade out of sight, Like echoes in alleys I roll through at night,

I'm a ball in motion, no stopping to stutter, Trying to stay in the lane, but I'm flirting with gutter.

Verse 2

Met a girl by the lanes with a laugh like a spark, She said, "You don't gotta roll through the dark," We danced on the edge of a life we could build, But I chose the fast spins, the chaos that thrilled.

Work was a scoreboard I couldn't outrun, Numbers kept rising, but I felt undone,

Boss said "Stay steady," but my head was a storm,

I'd clock in a body but my soul wasn't warm.

Pre-Chorus

The oil on the lane don't show what you feel,

It hides every doubt like it's part of the deal.

Chorus

Am I headed for the strike or the gutter tonight?

Is this love or a fall dressed up as right?

Every choice that I make, every turn of the wrist,

Is a chance I could land or a life that I've missed.

Friends cheer in the glow, then fade out of sight, Like echoes in alleys I roll through at night,

I'm a ball in motion, no stopping to stutter, Trying to stay in the lane, but I'm flirting with

gutter.

Bridge

There were nights I chased shadows in bottles and smoke,

Tried to quiet the voice that said I was broke,

Friends came in frames, then slipped out the scene,

Like pins after impact-gone, wiped clean.

I learned the hard way what slipping can do, One bad release and the whole line skews, But even the gutter's got something to teach, About how far you fall and what's still in reach.

Final Verse

I've thrown a thousand chances down a crooked line,

Watched 'em fade to the side like they weren't ever mine,

Every loss left a mark, every win felt thin,

"Til I learned how to live with the weight I was in.

Now I read every lane like a story I know,

Where the pressure will pull and the truth starts to show,

I ain't chasing perfection, just a path I can trust, Let it roll from the heart, not the fear or the rush.

Outro

Now I line up slower, feel the grain of the lane,

Know the past still echoes in every frame,

But I breathe before rolling, I choose where I aim,

Not every throw has to end the same.

Yeah, the gutter still calls like a place I've known, But the lane feels wider when I stand on my own, And even if I drift, I won't disappear,