[Intro]\n[low-frequency atmospheric swell, minimalist kick drum]\n\n[Verse 1]\n[spoken male vocals, deep sub-bass]\nCurled up\nNo setup, no permission\nNo warning\nJust a shape in the dark\nCurl tight around a shine that hums like a promise and bites like a vow\nSome weights don't sit on your back\nThey settle deeper\nThey choose a place\nAnd once they do you're already there\n[distorted percussion hit]\n\n[Chorus]\n[driving hip-hop beat enters, rhythmic rap vocals]\nYeah\nFound a glimmer in the dust, all it needed was a hand\nBut the shimmer had a pulse like it already planned\nEvery breath that I took felt tied to the land\nLike the ground knew my name better than I can\nFirst touch felt warm, second touch felt claimed\nThird touch rewrote every part of my frame\nDidn't notice when the shine started carving my name\nOr when the echo in the stone started sounding the same\nCurl close, thinking I was guarding the spark\nBut the spark drew maps in the mirror of the dark\nEvery heartbeat seemed to glow like a mark\nTo the glow on the night and the night on my arc\nTried stepping back, felt the pull like a tide\nFelt the hum in my ribs saying stay inside\nThought I chose the shine, thought I chose my pride\nBut the weight chose me as the place to hide\n\n[Bridge]\n[beat drops out, atmospheric synth pads]\nFirst time the word appears\nThe dragon doesn't guard the gold\nThe gold guards me\nAin't the master of the shine\nThe shine grows until you think you hold the weight\nBut the weight holds you\nSome hoards grow a beast just to see what it'll do\n[heavy sub-bass pulse]\nJust to see what it'll do\n\n[Verse 2]\n[aggressive rap delivery, full industrial beat]\nIt ain't metal, it's a hunger with a rhythm and a face\nA whisper in the dark with a pulse like bass\nDoesn't need legs when it's got your space\nDoesn't need teeth when it's got your chase\nEvery coin is a tether with a hook inside\nEvery gem is a promise you mistake for pride\nYou think you're stacking wealth but the wealth decides\nWhere you sleep with your fear but you'll never outride\nTry to leave once, the whole cage shook\nFelt the shine crawl up like it wanted a look\nHeard a voice in a hum like a line from a book\nYou're mine to the end, that's the oath you took\nSo I curl 'round the glow like a lock on a door\nThinking I was guarding it forevermore\nBut the truth hit hard in the bones I wore\nAin't guarding the hoard, I am the decor\n\n[Chorus]\nFirst time the word appears\nThe dragon doesn't guard the gold\nThe gold guards me\nAin't the master of the shine\nThe shine grows until you think you hold the weight\nBut the weight holds you\nSome hoards grow a beast just to see what it'll do\n\n[Outro]\n[half-time feel, heavy distortion]\nThe same scales, ain't wings, ain't flame\nIt's a mirror for the ones who forget their name\nEvery badge, every title, every job, every claim\nEvery badge, every title, every job, every claim\nCan turn a breathing soul to a pawn in a game\nYou chase that stack 'til it catches your breath\nGuard that road 'til it grips your death\nThink you're choosing life but the hoard says yes\nAnd you wake up one day with nothing left\nThe beast ain't evil, it's just what we become\nWhen the shine gets loud and the heart goes numb\nWhen the world says more and you beat that drum\n'Til the weight grows roots and you can't outrun\nSo if you hear the hum in the back of your mind\nCheck the cost of the thing that you're trying to find\nSome treasures ain't earned, they're a trap designed\nTo turn a freeborn soul to a beast confined\nQuiet\nFinal\nInevitable\nSome stories start with a creature\nThis one starts with a choice\nAnd ends with a name you didn't choose but answer to\n[fades out with low synth drone]
