[Intro — low voices, chains in rhythm] Iron on the windows, stone in the rain, Four little birds in a cage full of pain. Rot in the dark, but we still sing loud, Prisonbirds don’t bow their heads down. [Verse 1 — Silkshade, smoky and defiant] I came in wrapped in shadow, red hair in my eyes, Still half in love with danger, still too proud to die. They took my knives, my nights, my name, But the dark on my shoulders stayed the same. I kissed the edge, I danced with death, Wore white just to dare the city’s breath. They say these walls will quiet me, But my shadow knows a dozen keys. [Verse 2 — Black Lotus, calm and dangerous] I rolled black dice on a dirty floor, Made debts out of hunger, made queens out of war. They locked me up for a game gone bad, But Ironhook’s just another table I have. A debt is a chain, a promise, a blade, A flower blooms where the blood gets paid. I need no crown, I need no throne, I make the whole block lower its tone. [Pre-Chorus — all, building] We got rust in our lungs, We got scars in our names, Ghosts in the pipes And smoke in our veins. But hand in hand, Through the rot and rage, We found sisters At the bottom of the cage. [Chorus — all, huge] We are prisonbirds, singing through the wire, Broken little wings, but our hearts spit fire. Let the stone walls hear, let the dead bells ring, You can lock up the body, not the song we sing. We are prisonbirds, rotting in the rain, Carving our names in the bars of pain. If the world left us buried, we’ll rise unheard, Four black feathers from a prisonbird. [Verse 3 — Pretty Jack, sly and playful] I wore a gentleman’s smile, sweet as sin, Kissed bright ladies, then I slipped right in. Stole their jewels, their keys, their sighs, Told the softest kind of lies. Stayed too long in a velvet room, Got caught between a kiss and doom. Now I flirt with walls and make chains blush, Turn prison dirt into perfume dust. [Verse 4 — Moonblade, eerie and emotional] There are voices in the water, names under the floor, Dead girls scratching at the locked cell door. I made a nest from blanket thread, Sang lullabies to the things not dead. Moon-white eyes with a black ring round, Three little horns where the dark things found. They call me cursed, they call me wrong, But even monsters need a song. [Chorus — all, bigger] We are prisonbirds, singing through the wire, Broken little wings, but our hearts spit fire. Let the stone walls hear, let the dead bells ring, You can lock up the body, not the song we sing. We are prisonbirds, rotting in the rain, Carving our names in the bars of pain. If the world left us buried, we’ll rise unheard, Four black feathers from a prisonbird. [Bridge — each voice, rising] [Silkshade] I am not dead, I am not still, I am the shadow under the sill. [Black Lotus] I am the debt, I am the price, I am the hand that rules the dice. [Pretty Jack] I am the smile, I am the key, I am whoever you need me to be. [Moonblade] I am the moon, I am the knife, I am the ghost that learned to love life. [All] We are the rot that learned to bloom, The laugh in the lock, the spark in the gloom. No saints, no mercy, no open sky, So we made wings from the will to survive. [Breakdown — stomping, gang vocals] Bang on the bars! Stomp on the stone! Nobody rots in this dark alone! Bang on the bars! Bleed on the floor! Sisters behind us, ghosts at the door! Bang on the bars! Laugh at the key! Ironhook, honey, you don’t own me! [Final Chorus — full power] We are prisonbirds, singing through the wire, Broken little wings, but our hearts spit fire. Let the stone walls hear, let the dead bells ring, You can lock up the body, not the song we sing. We are prisonbirds, rotting in the rain, Carving our names in the bars of pain. If the world left us buried, we’ll rise unheard, Four black feathers from a prisonbird. We are prisonbirds, teeth full of sky, Born in the gutter, too mean to die. Sisters in iron, fierce and unheard, Rotten and holy — prisonbirds. [Outro — soft, haunted] Iron on the windows, stone in the rain, Four little birds in a cage full of pain. Rot in the dark, but we still sing loud, Prisonbirds don’t bow their heads down.
