[Intro] Grey sky, blue lights, tape on the rail, Same blocks, same stress, same old tale. Front Line burning when the night turns pale, Whole strip hum like a ghost on bail. (Spoken ad-lib) Yeah… everyone talk ’bout the Front Line… They don’t talk ’bout the cost though. [Chorus – Chant] Front Line, Front Line, can’t rewind, Same road, same code, same thin line. Some lose soul, some lose time, Everybody talk but they don’t see signs. Front Line, Front Line, no sunshine, Grey brick, blue light, still we grind. One wrong step and you’re offside – Whole block stuck on the Front, Front Line. (Front Line… Front Line…) [Verse 1] Cold wind whistle through the boarded doors, Kids play ball on the cracked old floor. Big lads lurk by the offie store, Eyes on cars they ain’t seen before. Patch got a name and the name got weight, Old heads say “leave” but it feels too late. Every young face want a fast escape, ’Til the fast line turn to a steel-door gate. Seen yutes brag ’bout the line they hold, New creps on, heart still tired and cold. Laugh in the rain with a palm full of gold, Next week mum in black at the church in fold. No crown here, just corners claimed, No fame, just whispers, numbers, names. One bad flip and it all gets aimed, Then chalk on the pavement spells out your shame. [Pre-Chorus] Heli in the sky, that’s a bassline drone, Sirens sing like a detuned phone. You can feel when the whole block tense in bone, Heart want out but the street say “own.” [Chorus] Front Line, Front Line, can’t rewind, Same road, same code, same thin line. Some lose soul, some lose time, Everybody talk but they don’t see signs. Front Line, Front Line, no sunshine, Grey brick, blue light, still we grind. One wrong step and you’re offside – Whole block stuck on the Front, Front Line. [Verse 2 – Jungle Switch / Double-Time] Amen break when the block get loud, Bike back wheel spin smoke in a cloud. Old mill shadow lean over the crowd, Every side street feel too proud. Post-industrial, rust on beam, Kids in hoodies where machines once screamed. Now it’s late-night whispers, paranoid dreams, Mums can’t sleep ’cause of siren screams. They told me, “Bro, you could own this strip,” But I seen too many fall, too many slip. One wrong text, one loose lip, Then the blue van door do a quick-snap clip. I keep my head down, pen in my palm, Bass in my chest, not steel in my arm. If I ever leave then I’m leaving calm, But I’ll never forget who got lost in the harm. [Break / Bridge – Spoken + Chant] (Spoken) Front Line look sweet in a rap man’s rhyme, But they don’t show mums on the stairs that cry, They don’t show clocks with the hands on nine, When the knock at the door could change your life. (Chant, crowd style) Front Line, Front Line, hold that head, Front Line, Front Line, count your bread. Front Line, Front Line, watch your step, One wrong move and you’re gone, not prepped. [Final Chorus – Bigger] Front Line, Front Line, can’t rewind, Same road, same code, same thin line. Some lose soul, some lose time, Everybody talk but they don’t see signs. Front Line, Front Line, no sunshine, Grey brick, blue light, still we grind. Pray one day we can redraw lines, ’Til then stuck on the Front, Front Line. (Front Line… Front Line… Whole block stuck on the Front Line…)
