[Intro — airy pads, distant vocal hums]
⸻
[Verse 1 — soft keys, pulsing low-end]
I’ve been treading circles in the dark,
Tracing patterns carved into my heart.
Every habit held me like a chain,
Every answer whispered back my pain.
I wore a mask to keep the world from seeing
The hollow shape of who I wasn’t being.
Caught in the rhythm I was raised to follow,
Living in a body that felt borrowed.
⸻
[Pre-Chorus — rising synth, breathy vocal layers]
And I’m trying…
To tear the stitching out of everything I’ve known.
And I’m fighting…
The hands that keep me bound to the ghost of who I was.
⸻
[Chorus — explosive drums, deep bass slam, melodic but haunting]
I won’t bow to the ritual again.
I’m shedding the skin that kept me frozen in place.
I’m breaking the cycle under my breath,
Killing the fear that’s been carving my name.
I’ll escape—
Even if I crawl through fire to feel awake.
⸻
[Verse 2 — R&B vocal cadence drifting into tension]
You said it’s safer staying where you stand,
But comfort is a coffin dressed in gentle hands.
I swallowed every warning, choked on every doubt,
‘Til all the light inside me nearly flickered out.
I let the world decide the shape of me,
A ghost performing his own eulogy.
But somewhere deep, a spark refused to die—
A quiet voice insisting I could try.
⸻
[Pre-Chorus — distorted vocoder accents]
And I’m rising…
From every failure that I buried in my bones.
And I’m reaching…
For something truer than the patterns I’ve outgrown.
⸻
[Chorus — bigger, more emotional]
I won’t bow to the ritual again.
I’m shedding the skin that kept me frozen in place.
I’m breaking the cycle under my breath,
Killing the fear that’s been carving my name.
I’ll escape—
Even if I crawl through fire to feel awake.
⸻
[Bridge — minimal, spoken word with slow-building tension]
I was born into a maze I never chose.
I learned to kneel before I learned to breathe.
But now…
I’m stepping through the cracks
Where the old echoes lose their meaning.
Where the world can’t tell me who to be.
Where the ritual ends—
And I begin.
⸻
[Final Breakdown — heavy, nu metal percussion + melodic screams]
[whispered]
Cut the ties.
Cut the ties.
[screamed]
I will not be bound by the ritual!
No more empty motions keeping me small!
If the world won’t open for me—
I’ll tear through the walls!
⸻
[Outro — soft piano returning, down tuned guitars]
I’m still searching…
But for once, it feels like living.
I’m still learning…
But for once, I’m choosing me.
And the ritual—
It fades behind me
Like a dream I’m finally waking from.
[Screamed]
ESCAPE!
ESCAPE THE RITUAL!
ESCAPE!
ESCAPE THE RITUAL!
ESCAPE!
ESCAPE THE RITUAL!
[Final verse - changed tempo and cadence, ritualistic]
Oooh, with jaded eyes I see
Oooh, this ritual’s not for me
Oooh, find a sweet release
Bound with chains, set me free
Oooh, break the circle now
Oooh, say you know how
Oooh, quiet the cursed vow
From despair a final bow
Atlantica
