Shadows and Streetlights

[Intro] *(A distant trumpet hums a melancholic melody, fading into gritty vinyl crackle. A bassline thumps like a heartbeat.)* [Verse 1] We scraped our knees on concrete altars, where rusted dreams decay, Palms calloused from the climb, but the ladder’s swept away. Momma’s tears dried into maps, tracing roads we can’t afford, While the system’s clock ticks backward, stealing time we’ll never hoard. Alleyways hum hymns of hunger, flickering fluorescent prayers, Generations chained to lottery tickets, hoping luck might meet them there. The world’s a tilted stage—we dance in shadows, out of sight, While privilege claps in rhythm, bathed in someone else’s light. [Chorus] *(Trumpet melody rises, hopeful yet distant, weaving through the verses)* Oh, the storm’s been baptized in our sweat, Every raindrop a debt we ain’t paid yet. But somewhere past the sirens’ wail, a note takes flight— A jazz-torn promise, bleeding through the night. [Verse 2] They say the grind’s a virtue, but our soles are wearing thin, Running laps in mazes where the walls just close back in. The bank’s a hungry phantom, swallowing our rent in stacks, While the boss man’s son gets internships stitched into his tracks. We stitch our own from threadbare hope, two jobs and sleepless dawns, While the judge of fairness wears a robe that’s tailored, slick, and drawn. Our stories fold like dollar bills—too small to buy a voice, But the pavement hears our whispers, turns our rage into a choice. [Chorus] *(Trumpet crescendos, defiant now, cutting through the gloom)* Oh, the storm’s been baptized in our sweat, Every raindrop a debt we ain’t paid yet. But somewhere past the fractured glass, a spark survives— A streetlight’s halo where the dream still thrives. [Bridge] Momma said, “Child, hold your fire, let it smolder, don’t let go, For every seed that grows in darkness, heaven’s soil might never know.” So we plant our roots in sidewalks, crack the stone with stubborn green, A symphony of survival, loudest where the hurt’s unseen. [Outro] *(The trumpet fades, leaving only the bassline’s pulse. Distant sirens blur into silence.)*