[Intro] (Tempo: 142 BPM / 71 BPM Half-time feel) (The track opens with a bright, staccato Fender Rhodes riff in D Major, heavy on the 9th and sus4 extensions for a lush, jazzy tension. A deep, "warm but cutting" bassline enters, interlocking with a bubbling Moog synthesizer. The drums lock into a steady One Drop reggae rhythm—the hi-hats ticking at 142 BPM while the snare hits a heavy '3' at 71 BPM. Guitars enter with a clean, compressed tone and a touch of chorus, playing a tight off-beat skank.) [Verse 1] (Chords: Ebm – Fm loop) High-rise shadows over zinc-roof shacks Systemic weight breaking all our backs You trade in futures, we trade in pain While you stay dry in the purple rain The ledger’s full but the belly is thin Where does the policy of greed begin? You’re pushing the ghetto to the final wall Counting the seconds 'til the pillars fall. [Chorus] (Chords: Bbm – Fm – Gb – Ebm) You’re playing us close, right on the edge Tearing the heart from the sacred pledge A direct warning from the street to the throne: You reap the seeds that your hands have sown Yeah, the marginalized are rising high Under the heat of a blood-red sky. [Verse 2] (Chords: Ebm – Fm, adding Bbm7 for a jazzy turn) (Guitar lead lines mirror the vocal melody with a light envelope filter) Jobless brothers on the corner stand Strangers in their own native land You talk of progress in your marble halls While we paint the truth on the crumbling walls It’s a rhythmic pressure, a slow-burn fire The tension's tight like a copper wire You neglect the spark at your own soul's cost Look at the generations you’ve already lost. [Bridge] (Chords: Ab – Eb) (Backing vocals enter with smooth, soul harmonies) (The Rhodes shifts to sweeping, suspended chords) The melody is broken, the key is wrong We’re rewriting the words to the master’s song From the valley of shadow to the peak of the light We’re stepping out of the systemic night! [Guitar Solo] (Clean, compressed tone with chorus; melodic and lyrical, following the vocal phrasing.) (Outro] [Chords: Ebm – Fm loop) (The Rhodes and Bass interplay takes center stage again) Playing us close... (Too close) Watch the rhythm of the rising tide. (Heavy "bubble" organ and staccato guitar skank fade out) The debt is due. (Final sustained D Major 9 chord on the Rhodes)
