[Intro – atmospheric alt-rock hum] Names carry echoes Long before we hear them Lineage in the letters Waiting to be spoken [Verse 1 – full legal identity] Kevin for compassion Born from the Irish word for kind A fire-hearted origin With a steady patient mind Carl for freedom The old word for a man who stands his ground Independent by nature Rooted real and sound Walter from my father’s side Strength in German tongue A protector in the heritage Passed from father to son Maistros on my birth line Written as it came Four names forming one And I know each name [Chorus – lifted alt-rock, wide guitars] We know our names We carry every letter Walter in the blood And Maistros in the weather Not a myth Not a mask Not a story to reclaim Just the quiet recognition Of the ones from whom I came [Verse 2 – the Braithwaite thread] Braithwaite in the branches Of painters and of stage A lineage of craft and vision Running quietly through the age I honour those who came before Whose hands shaped light and frame Their legacy in motion Now echoes through my name [Verse – the Sherley thread] Sherley Winnefred Maistros My grandmother’s gentle line A Cleveland-rooted melody That still runs into mine And every time I say it I can’t help but laugh with ease How her name sat one vowel over From old Sherwin-Williams in the breeze [Chorus – steadier and true] We know our names We carry every letter Walter in the blood And Maistros in the weather Not fiction Not disguise No mask left to maintain Just the quiet recognition Of the ones from whom I came [Bridge – Houdini craft nod] Escape was never magic It was timing in the dark A painter’s son who learned the craft Of slipping past the mark Not illusion Not disguise No myth to entertain Just the lineage of makers That taught me to remain [Verse 3 – whole-self alignment + Dallas / Desert arc] Kevin for compassion Carl for standing free Walter for resilience Maistros legally Four names in one body Aligned without shame I move with all of them now And I know my name Back through what must close While the trailer waits with ease When Dallas is completed The desert holds the keys [Final Chorus – soaring alt-rock] We know our names We carry every letter Walter in the blood And Maistros in the weather Not fiction Not disguise No mask left to maintain Just the true-line recognition Of the ones from whom I came [Outro – ambient guitars fading] Four names in my breath Four lines in my flame All of them together Saying I know my name
