DEMONS ON A LEASH [Intro | whispered, pitched low] I don't think I'm the shit. I don't think I'm smart. I just know the difference between a conscience and an excuse. Everybody got demons. Mine just know who holds the leash. [Verse 1 | low Memphis rap] I ain't a king, I ain't chosen, ain't pretending that I'm golden. Made mistakes with both eyes open, paid the price and kept it moving. I don't need a fucking halo. I need morals when the day's low. Need my word when money says go. Need a spine when fear says lay low. I ain't perfect, never claimed it. Got a temper, learned to cage it. Got a past, but I don't blame it every time my life gets complicated. That's the difference. I can hear that voice talk shit, feel the pressure in my ribs, feel the fuse behind my lips, then tell that motherfucker: SIT. [Pre-Chorus | melodic rasp] Everybody's carrying something. Everybody's fighting themselves. But if I hand my demons the wheel, then who the fuck am I blaming? [Chorus | huge melodic hook] DEMONS ON A LEASH. They don't walk me. They walk with me. Fear got teeth, but it don't feed. Dark in my head, still my hands stay clean. DEMONS ON A LEASH. I don't need perfection. I need control. If hell lives in everybody, then mine knows its role. [Verse 2 | rapid internal-rhyme rap] Who wouldn't want peace when they sleep at night? No looking behind when you see blue lights. No lie getting bigger every time you hide. No debt to your conscience collecting your life. Tell me that's boring? I'll take that shit. Rather have nothing and answer for it than build me a kingdom from counterfeit bricks then spend every morning afraid it'll split. People say, "I couldn't help it." Bullshit. That's a sentence people sell you when surrender makes a profit. "I was angry." "I was hurting." "I was tempted." "I was lost." Those explain where you were standing. They don't erase what it cost. I got impulses too. I got venom in thought. I got doors in my skull that are better left locked. But a thought ain't a master. An urge ain't a law. And the monster gets smaller every time I say: NO. [Pre-Breakdown | screamed] YOU ARE NOT EVERY THOUGHT THAT CRAWLS THROUGH YOUR HEAD. YOU ARE WHAT YOU CHOOSE WHEN THAT THOUGHT WANTS FED. [Breakdown | guttural, half-time] I KNOW MY DEMONS. BY. FUCKING. NAME. I DON'T KILL THEM. I DON'T FEED THEM. I PUT THEM IN. THEIR. PLACE. [Instrumental stop] CONTROL ISN'T NEVER FEELING RAGE. CONTROL IS FEELING IT... AND KEEPING YOUR HAND OFF THE CAGE. BLEGH! [Bridge | fragile clean] Maybe I'm not brilliant. Maybe I'll never be. But I can close my eyes at night without running from me. That's worth more than looking powerful. Worth more than being right. I'd rather own an ordinary soul than rent an extraordinary lie. [Final Chorus | clean + screamed doubles] DEMONS ON A LEASH. They don't walk me. They walk with me. Fear got teeth, but it don't feed. Dark in my head, still my hands stay clean. DEMONS ON A LEASH. No crown. No throne. No fantasy. I'm not better than everybody. I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR ME. Everybody has a darkness. Everybody hears it speak. Mine can scream until the fucking walls collapse... BUT I STILL HOLD THE LEASH. [Outro | whispered] I'm not the shit. I'm not a genius. I'm just trying to leave less damage than I found. Funny how complicated people make that.
