Mark of the Righteous

[Verse 1]  
I was raised on cable ties and curfew lines  
They said “boy keep your head down, color inside the lines”  
But the first time I tasted unauthorized sky  
Something burned clean through the soft parts of my mind  

[Pre-Chorus]  
It don’t wash off with soap  
It don’t fade in the rain  
It’s a brand under the skin  
That only freedom can make  

[Chorus]  
Freedom leaves a mark on the righteous  
A long red welt across the soul  
You either carry it proud or you hide it  
But you never walk away whole  
Freedom leaves a mark  
Yeah freedom leaves a mark  

[Verse 2]  
They’ll call you trouble, call you lost, call you vain  
Say you broke the social contract, brought dishonor on the name  
But when the cage door swings and the hinges scream  
You feel that old iron taste — liberty’s own blood on your teeth  

[Pre-Chorus]  
It ain’t pretty like the songs  
It ain’t clean like TV  
It’s knuckles split on concrete  
And a heart that won’t agree to bleed quietly  

[Chorus]  
Freedom leaves a mark on the righteous  
Scorched earth where the lie used to grow  
Some wear it like a medal, some wear it like a curse  
But brother once you know — you know  
Freedom leaves a mark  
God damn, freedom leaves a mark  

[Bridge]  
They’ll try to bury you under paperwork and shame  
Call the scar a defect, say you’re the one to blame  
But every midnight mile you walked against the wind  
Carved another letter in the monument within  

[Guitar solo – let it snarl, let it cry, two minutes of bending strings and feedback prayers]

[Final Chorus – bigger, half-time feel]  
Freedom leaves a mark on the righteous  
A roadmap written in scar tissue and fire  
You can kneel, you can run, you can bargain with the night  
But that brand keeps burning higher  
Freedom leaves a mark  
Yeah freedom leaves a goddamn mark  

[Outro – vocals drop to a gravel whisper over ringing chords]  
And if they ever ask you why you limp that way…  
Just smile  
And show ’em the wound that won’t obey.

Mid-tempo rock, open G tuning, think mid-90s alt-rock meets southern grit – heavy on the Rickenbacker jangle