Title: Caution (THE GOSPEL OF BRIAN) ⸻ LYRICS (>5000 characters) [Intro – smoky, distant choir | vinyl crackle | low organ | tape hiss] (soft ad-libs, barely above breath) Don’t… don’t let me go there… No, don’t… don’t take me there… (choir, faint) stay… stay… stay… I been trying to keep it buried, keep it under prayer… (static crackle) Don’t… let me go there… ⸻ [Verse 1 – restrained, intimate | Rhodes + sub | no snare] Everybody got a dark side they don’t like to show You’ve only seen my light alive—alive, I hope you never know There’s a weight behind my ribs I keep in quiet chains Every time you pull at it, I feel it wake again I been biting down on everything I could say Swallowing the thunder just to keep the peace in place You think silence means I’m soft, that I won’t react But pressure make a diamond—or it make it crack I ain’t saying I’m a saint, I’m saying I resist Every time you test the line, you add another twist To something I been holding like a fragile truth You keep pulling at the thread like you got nothing to lose (whisper) keep lying… keep lying… Tell yourself you know me, tell yourself I’m fine Oh—but don’t push me Don’t push me, don’t drag me through your hell this time ⸻ [Pre-Chorus – tension lift | choir swells | 808 heartbeat | low strings] You keep knocking on a door I barely hold Hear the hinges screaming, feel it slipping from control Hands shaking, trying not to lose my soul Turn around now… before I let it go (choir layering) don’t let it—don’t let it—go… ⸻ [Chorus – full but controlled | drums + bass bloom | organ support] Get out of my way I’m coming like a freight train If I have to I will step through you Just to reach the other side Oh yeah Your ways are getting old I’ll make sure you eat your words And swallow (choir echo) swallow… swallow… ⸻ [Verse 2 – more bite | kick/snare tighter | low choir stabs | guitar swells] You play holy with a loaded tongue Say you know me—no, you know just enough You know the calm, not the storm underneath You don’t hear the warning in the way I breathe Every halo got a shadow it hides Every truth got a line it won’t let you cross twice You keep dancing where the danger lives Like you trying to see how much a man can give I been praying I don’t cross that line I been begging for the strength to stay confined But you tapping on the glass like it won’t break Like there’s nothing in me you could ever wake (under breath, rhythmic) don’t… push… me… Don’t… push… me… You don’t understand the cost of restraint How many wars get buried just to keep me from that place You don’t see the hands I keep tied behind Just so something worse don’t take what’s mine ⸻ [Pre-Chorus – bigger, stacked vocals | choir answers lead] You keep knocking on a door I barely hold If it opens, you won’t like what takes control Blood rushing, trying not to lose my soul Turn around now… before I let it— (choir rising) let it—let it—go… ⸻ [Chorus – wider, choir answers lead | heavier drums] Get out of my way (—move) I’m coming like a freight train (—train) And if I have to (—have to) I will step through you (—through you) Just to reach the other side (—other side) Your ways are getting old I’ll make sure you eat your words And swallow Make you swallow whole (choir chant) whole… whole… ⸻ [Bridge – drop out to organ + snaps | call & response gospel | raw vocal] Is it me you want? (—tell me now) Then give me all your mind (—all your mind) Is it me you see when you can’t sleep at night? (—at night) You want to love me— (—love me) You want to love me, but it don’t feel right (—don’t feel right) ‘Cause something in me don’t sit polite (—sit polite) Something in me don’t compromise (—no compromise) So lay your head down… (—lay it down) Go on and cry (—go on and cry) You don’t want the truth you keep trying to find (choir hum swells) I been standing at the edge of myself Trying not to become somebody else Trying not to let the dark decide What survives… what survives… ⸻ [BREAK – silence hit → stomp/clap pattern enters | raw room sound] (stomp—clap… stomp—stomp—clap) (stomp—clap… stomp—stomp—clap) (heavy breathing, distant choir building) ⸻ [FINAL CHORUS – key lift (F minor) | full choir, horns, live drums | peak energy] Get out of my way (—move) I’m coming like a freight train (—train) If I have to (—have to) I will step through you (—through you) Just to reach the other side (—other side) Your ways are getting old I’ll make sure you eat your words And swallow (extended choir belts) swallow… swallow… I warned you not to pull me there (—I warned you) I tried to meet you clean and fair (—clean and fair) But you kept knocking at the line Now you gon’ see what’s mine ⸻ [Outro – percussive, syncopated | drums + vocal chops | tape degradation] I—don’t want you (no) I don’t—don’t want you to see (no) I don’t—want you I don’t want you to see the dark side It’s not—that I don’t want you It’s that—I won’t let you see Da—dark side, da—dark side, da—dark si
