MONDAY *Dallas to Phoenix** **Performed by 12Gauge858** **Written by 12Gauge858** *Southern alternative R&B • Electric blues guitar • Deep 808 • Industrial road percussion • Dark cinematic strings* --- [INTRO — SPOKEN / ENGINE IDLING] *(Truck engine humming. Turn signal clicking. Distant traffic reports beneath a low electric-blues guitar.)* Four-thirty in the morning… Sonic Tunes 808 calling you u know I had this on standby Ready Bro much love ok Lets gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Dallas already backed up like everybody had the same bad idea. Ain’t even daylight yet… And this heat? Man… It’s hotter than a volcano with an attitude. *(808 drops.)* Yeah… Must be Monday. --- ## **[VERSE 1]** Coffee sitting crooked in the console, Red lights stretching farther than I see… Brake lights glowing through the windshield Like the whole damn city’s mad at me… Sun ain’t even climbed above the skyline, Still the air is burning through my clothes… Sweat already running down my collar, And I ain’t made it past the outer roads… Somebody leaning heavy on the horn now, Somebody cutting lanes without a sign… Everybody late for something somewhere, And every fool believes his time is mine… --- ## **[PRE-CHORUS]** Got Phoenix waiting somewhere west, Got Dallas holding on my chest… Got seven hundred reasons Not to turn around just yet… --- ## **[CHORUS]** It’s Mon-daaaay… And the highway woke up mean… Dallas got me boxed between A thousand taillights and a dream… It’s Mon-daaaay… Heat out early, sky still black… Hotter than a volcano Breathing fire down my back… But I got Phoenix on the windshield, And the west wind calling my name… So move, move, move out my way— I’m driving through Monday Like Monday ain’t driving me insane… --- ## **[POST-CHORUS]** *(Blues guitar bends.)* Dallas behind me… Phoenix ahead… Monday got one hand Wrapped around my neck… But I ain’t dead yet… No… I ain’t dead yet. --- ## **[VERSE 2]** Blacktop dancing underneath the headlights, Heat waves rising before the morning breaks… Air conditioner fighting for its last breath, Dashboard shaking every bump I take… Radio man says there’s more congestion, Like I needed him to tell me what I know… I can see frustration in the mirrors, Everybody trapped with somewhere else to go… Then the city starts to loosen from around me, Concrete giving way to open land… I watch the sunrise bleed across the distance, Like the road finally understands… --- ## **[PRE-CHORUS 2]** Got miles of desert up ahead, Got yesterday still in my head… But every yellow line keeps saying, “Keep moving instead…” --- ## **[CHORUS 2]** It’s Mon-daaaay… And the highway woke up mean… Dallas had me boxed between A thousand taillights and a dream… It’s Mon-daaaay… Sun came up already mad… Hotter than a volcano Trying to melt the life I have… But I got Phoenix on the windshield, And the west wind calling my name… So move, move, move out my way— I’m driving through Monday Like Monday ain’t driving me insane… --- ## **[BREAKDOWN — TRAFFIC FADES]** *(808 drops to a slow heartbeat. Dark cello enters beneath the guitar.)* Some mornings ain’t about winning… They’re just about not letting the road turn you around. Not letting the heat take your patience… Not letting the traffic take your mind… Dallas tried to hold me. Monday tried to break me. But Phoenix… Phoenix kept getting closer. --- ## **[BRIDGE — BUILDING]** Mile by mile… Light by light… Cursing every red one Till the road opened wide… Sweat on my back… Sun in my eyes… But the farther west I drove, The more I came alive… Monday threw the city at me… Monday threw the flame… But every mile between here and Phoenix Forgot my yesterday… --- ## **[FINAL CHORUS — FULL RELEASE]** It’s Mon-daaaay… Let the whole highway hear me sing… Dallas couldn’t keep me chained To all those taillights and machines… It’s Mon-daaaay… And the desert’s breathing heat… Hotter than a volcano, But it still ain’t hotter than me… I got Phoenix on the windshield, Got the sunrise in my veins… So move, move, move out my way— I drove straight through Monday… And Monday Couldn’t make me stay… --- ## **[OUTRO]** *(Electric blues guitar stretches over the fading engine hum.)* Four-thirty… Dallas had me standing still. By sunrise… I was chasing Arizona. Heat came early… Traffic came angry… But I kept moving. *(Spoken, exhausted smile.)* Yeah… That’s Monday. *(Engine accelerates. Guitar fades into the open road.)*
