**[Intro]** *[slow, intimate — piano over vinyl crackle]* Amber glow... Soft it grows He stirred, gently woke her From a long, deep slumber... rows *[horn — one held note]* **[Verse 1]** *[conversational, unhurried, clean on the downbeat]* Step out the door, city amber glow Streetlights drip while the rivers flow Dreams on the corner where the prophets spoke Turn pain into paint, every scar a stroke *(every stroke...)* Come, let's go, beat riding slow Kings in the cold but the heart stay gold *(stay gold...)* *[rhyme chain — land each word]* Dust on the vinyl, mind on the climb Truth in the rhyme Every bar on time *[horn — two short stabs]* Come perceive with me, watch the angles bend See the beauty in the bruise, every break can mend Truth, beauty, sincerity in view Look only at me while I'm seeing through you We see infinity in concrete blues My eyes have seen ya in these worn-out shoes Or was it who when the night wind blew Old souls linking in a cipher of two *(cipher of two...)* *[horn — long tone, fading]* **[Chorus]** *[hypnotic, minimal]* They said to each other in the midnight sound You the light in the smoke when the world falls down *(falls down...)* Not the weight in the rain or the thunder crowd You the quiet in the storm when the boom too loud *(too loud...)* You the one who is meant when the nights turn tender To paint all the pain into purple splendor To draw it past the center, magnificent surrender To the hidden place where the lost remember *[horn stab on the one]* **[Verse 2]** *[grounded, deliberate, walking bass underneath]* A living light, yeah we spark that flame We shine so bright in the heart of the game Transformation through the cold pale night Turn grey city blocks into gold on sight *(gold...)* Warm amber glow when the windows steam Old cracked pavement, brand-new dream Quick as we grow, we refuse to fold Two pens in the dark turn the ink to gold *(ink to gold...)* *[rhyme chain — hold each one]* Together as one when the drums run slow We begin our flow Let the real ones know *[horn stab — beat of silence]* *[cipher — one bar each, precise]* Thirty-two paths in the brain, all flash Thirty-two bars in the verse, all splash Thirty-two rapids in the mind, they go Quick as they flow when the truth unfold *(unfold...)* **[Chorus — repeat]** *[bigger — low second voice, louder echoes]* They said to each other in the midnight sound You the light in the smoke when the world falls down *(falls down!)* Not the weight in the rain or the thunder crowd You the quiet in the storm when the boom too loud *(too loud!)* **[Bridge]** *[bass and keys only, drums enter line three]* In the ups and the downs when the world spin 'round In our leaps out of bounds, from the lost to found In the back of the train with the head tipped low We were hunting for a sign in the city glow *(city glow...)* In the alleyway prayers and the rooftop views In the static on the line and the late-night news We searched, and blessed be, through the noise, the sound In the break of the beat — yeah, we finally found *(we found it...)* *[horn — two answering notes]* **[Break]** *[warm, wry — jazz keys forward]* What a comical, what a cosmical Reunion — street-side gospel Laugh through the pain while the bass drum roll Whole universe in a ten-bar stroll *(ha...)* What a comical, what a cosmical Reunion — inner city hostel Stars in the puddles when the sirens fade Every crack in the glass let the cosmos wade *(let it wade...)* **[Verse 3]** *[building, layered, unhurried]* All around, leaps and bounds Chances spin, let the wheel go 'round Turn around, catch light in the lens From the stoop to the sky where the skyline bends Open your eyes, see the code in the beat See like Me from the soul, not the street See through Me when the mask fall free See infinity in the grit and debris *(see it...)* Our oneness continuously glows In the cracks of the bricks where the wild grass grows As one now, so freely we flow Through the ink on the page and the lamp-post glow *[four-way rhyme chain — deliberate]* Revealing inner truth while the speakers thump through You I love, I love you — that's true *(that's true...)* Only oneness we seek in this realm we knew Galaxy 32 in the Bronx-side view *[horn stab — hard, then silence]* Wherever we go, from the blocks to the stars We carry that light through the bass and the bars Amber glow in the night we chose Ninety-five dreams in these city clothes *(city clothes...)* *[horn — final note, long decay]* **[Outro]** *[walking bass alone, voice fading]* ...amber glow ...ninety-five dreams ...city clothes *(amber glow...)* *[piano holds, then silence]*
