[INTRO – quiet, human, resigned] No one asked them No one warned them They were just born Into it --- [VERSE 1 – lamenting, observational] Every system likes a buffer Something soft to take the hit Turns out that cushion Was the kids While they argue terms and leverage While they posture, stall, and stall The smallest shoulders in the room Catch the fallout They learn the rules through sirens Through drills they don’t understand Practice staying very still In a game they never planned --- [CHORUS – mournful, chantable] Young guns On the front line Before they know What side they’re on Young guns Raised alert Learning early What the world will risk them for --- [PSA INTERLUDE – gentle, hollow reassurance] These measures are precautionary There is no cause for alarm Preparedness is a form of care --- [VERSE 2 – quiet indictment] You don’t have to mean harm For harm to land You just have to keep playing With someone else’s hands Every debate stays abstract Till it hits a living room Every talking point gets quiet In the presence of a child’s fear They call it complicated They call it hard Funny how the cost Is always charged To someone small --- [PRE-CHORUS – spoken, fragile] When adults gamble Kids cover the spread --- [CHORUS] Young guns Still growing Still trying To feel safe Young guns Living proof That someone always pays For stalemates --- [PSA INTERLUDE – distant, procedural] Tragic events remain rare Please avoid speculation Normal operations will continue --- [BRIDGE – imagery, slow and heavy] Bullets raining from the sky Not fired Just implied In headlines In silence In the pause before goodbye They fall like policy Like negligence Like weather no one owns But everyone lives under --- [BREAKDOWN – hushed, collective] Hold them close Teach them calm Tell them lies About control Say it’s not their weight to carry Even as they carry it --- [VERSE 3 – resigned clarity] They didn’t choose the battlefield It moved in around them Desks, doors, and drills Standing in for trenches If this is the cost of dysfunction If this is the price of delay Then say it out loud Don’t dress it up As the way things stay --- [FINAL CHORUS – full, sorrowful] Young guns Still here Still trying to grow Young guns Bearing consequences They didn’t vote for Or build Young guns If this breaks your heart Good It means you’re paying attention --- [OUTRO – quiet, unresolved] When the establishment plays games The young Are always on the front lines Even when no one calls it a war
