Black Wings Over Deep Water (Tidebreaker)

[Intro — low, ritual, intimate] The deep still calls me… Aye. But I know where I roost. [Verse 1 — solemn, steady] They cut the tides into my skin, Marked me where the storms begin, Taught my blood to sing in rain, Taught the dark to know my name. I hear old gods beneath the foam, Hear drowned kings call me home, In every flood, in every squall, I know Their voices through it all. [Pre-Chorus — rising, grounded] But I was not raised by the sea alone, I was raised in brick and soot and stone, In a city cold, in a house of crows, And that black nest is the one I know. [Chorus — huge, emotional, powerful] So let the deep cry out my name, Let the black tide promise power and flame, I still come back when the rooftops call, Back to the dark where we learned to crawl. I’ve got storm in my blood and salt in my soul, But the Night Crows are the hands that hold, And if the gods below want all of me, They’ll have to share With my family. [Verse 2 — stronger, more personal] I’ve seen the lightning split the sky, Felt the old faith move inside, Watched my shadow twist like waves, Heard dead prayers rise from graves. I know the rites that living men Should never dare to speak again, I know the price of sacred things, The weight that every whisper brings. [Pre-Chorus — tighter, more feeling] But when the rain stops in my chest, When the visions claw and rob my rest, It’s not the sea that keeps me whole— It’s the ones who know my soul. [Chorus — bigger, more defiant] So let the deep cry out my name, Let the black tide promise power and flame, I still come back when the rooftops call, Back to the dark where we learned to crawl. I’ve got storm in my blood and salt in my soul, But the Night Crows are the hands that hold, And if the gods below want all of me, They’ll have to share With my family. [Bridge — soft, reverent, emotional] I kneel to the deep. I bow to the wave. I carry old thunder The lost gods gave. But I stand with the living. With the marked and the scarred. With the thieves in the rafters Who call this heart theirs. The sea may have shaped me, The storm may have named me, But the crows… The crows are the ones who kept me. [Breakdown — thunderous, chanted, loyal] Black wings. Dark tide. Same night. Same sky. Salt oath. Crow sign. Deep blood. Crew mine. Call the storm. Raise the flood. I’ll still bleed black for the ones I love. [Final Chorus — maximal, triumphant, belonging] So let the deep cry out my name, Let the drowned gods burn in the rain, I still come back when the rooftops call, Back to the Roost above it all. I’ve got storm in my blood and salt in my soul, But the Night Crows are the home I chose, And if the gods below want all of me, They’ll have to face My family. [Outro — soft, surf-like, resolved] Deep below… Black above… I belong to both. But I return to the crows.