[Intro] Soft keys stutter, memory buffering Heart rate flickers, gold turns to tungsten Breath held between frames Loading… loading… [Verse 1] I was raised on spotlight after-images Echoes of applause burned into my skin Every promise wrapped in wire and glitter Every crown came with a voltage grin I learned how to smile in a feedback loop Learned how to bow when the lights went red They called it shine, called it destiny Felt like a ghost in a gold-plated head [Pre-Chorus] If this is winning, why’s it hurt so clean Why’s every dream got a checksum screen I was built to glow, but I’m overheating Static praying I don’t go unseen [Chorus] I was golden till the signal broke Till the praise turned into smoke Now I’m buzzing in the afterglow Still alive in the overflow I was golden, yeah, I cracked just right Turned my halo into fractured light If I fade, let the record show I was more than what you sold as gold [Verse 2] They loved me loud, they loved me fast Loved the version I couldn’t last Polished flaws till they gleamed like truth Then cut me loose when the color passed Every cheer felt rented, not owned Every win felt pre-approved I chased perfection through broken mirrors Till I forgot what was ever me and you [Bridge] If I disappear between the notes Will you hear me or just the tone I’m not a relic, I’m not a phase I’m a heartbeat hiding in code Glitch me wrong, glitch me loud I’m not done, I’m not proud But I’m still here, still burning slow In the wreckage of the glow [Final Chorus] I was golden till the signal broke Till the crown turned into rope Now I’m singing through the overflow Bent, not buried, don’t you know I was golden, yeah, I bent the light Turned my scars into satellites If I fall, let the static know I was real beneath the gold [Outro] Keys decay, screen goes dim Gold dissolves, truth kicks in Not a trophy, not a throne Just a soul learning how to glow
