[Spoken Intro – Low, Gravelly, Close-Mic’d; Sparse Room Tone; Sub-Bass Fade In] Listen… this ain’t no stained-glass Sunday. This is the back-room juke joint where the spirit shows up late, drunk on thunder, and demands you move something. If your hips ain’t answerin’, check your pulse. Might be dead. [Verse 1 – Slow-Burn Funk; Deep Pocket; Kick on 1, Snare Lazy on 3; Bass Slides Between Notes] I stumbled broke beneath the city's haze A droning buzz above the concrete floor Pockets lined with scraps of dead-end days And tattered score-marks I can't ignore The kick-drum spits a sound like prophet clearin’ his throat The snare-hit cracks like a collection-plate's plea I came to pay the tithe, but the singular note Is the one shaking dust from underneath my knees [Chorus – Full Band Drop; Bass Front & Center; Drums Dig In; Gang Responses Optional] The low end is the call to the only altar If you don't hear it, check the static in your dead soul The bass and drums are screaming thunder and falsetto Hittin’ the floor like you need it—that's the only prayer worth giving (Back up, child…) Oh .. woah.. ah ah (Back up, child…) Oh .. woah.. ah ah [Verse 2] Screen in my palm bleeds a wicked warning light Overdraft demons flickering on the window-pane But down here the low end hurts so clear tonight Every thump pays a toll for past-tense pain Ride cymbal sizzles like an iron's heat The organ cries a hymn nobody ever heard I'm bankrupt in the world, but on this dirt street I’m rich in sweat and a gospel word [Chorus – Louder; Extra Percussion; Call-and-Response More Aggressive] The low end is the call to the only altar If you don't hear it, check the static in your dead soul The bass and drums are screaming thunder and falsetto Hittin’ the floor like you need it—that's the only prayer worth giving (Back up, child…) Oh .. woah.. ah ah (Back up, child…) Oh .. woah.. ah ah [Verse 3 – Groove Returns Harder; Bass Syncopation; Guitar Stabs Optional] Tomorrow the creditors still want their flesh Landlord’s knock will always harden the bone But tonight this bassline’s my binding covenant mesh Washing the ink right off the stone I shuffle like a fool in tattered borrowed lace Grinning at the audacity of the sound If rhythm’s the only god that will not refuse my case Then hell, I’ll tithe till I crumble to the ground [Chorus – Final; Max Energy; Choir Feel from Bass & Drums; Repeat Lines as Needed] The low end is the call to the only altar If you don't hear it, check the static in your dead soul The bass and drums are screaming thunder and falsetto Hittin’ the floor like you need it—that's the only prayer worth giving (Back up, child…) Let the dog preach! (Back up, child…) Let the dog preach! Let the dog preach! [Outro – Groove Rides; Bass Ad-Libs; Laughter Left In; Fade on Pocket] Yeah… keep preachin’, brother bass… (Yeah…) I’m still here… still swayin’… (Still swayin’…) Debt tomorrow, deliverance tonight… [Laughs through gritted teeth] One more drop… one more…
