[Intro – spoken, smooth, amused] Come now, love… Don’t look at me like that. Everybody takes a cut. I’m just honest enough to smile. [Verse 1 – slick, low, swaggering] I was born with empty pockets, but a silver little tongue, learned the city’s dirty hymns before I learned to hold a gun. Backstreet boys with hungry eyes, girls with nowhere safe to stand, I gave ’em doors, I gave ’em names, put a little coin in hand. Call me rogue, call me rat, call me bastard if you can, but when the night gets proper cruel, you come find the Kindly Man. [Pre-Chorus – sly, building] I know who’s in, I know who’s out, who owes blood and who owes rent, I know which pretty little lie will make a sinner feel like gent. [Chorus – catchy, cocky, dark cabaret feel] I’m the Kindly Man, mate, don’t you know? I open the doors where the lost kids go. One little job, one little smile, I take my share and call it style. I’m the Kindly Man, love, tip your hat, Doskvol made me sharp like that. You keep your prayers and your honest plan— I’ll keep the streets in the palm of my hand. [Verse 2 – sharper, faster rhythm] Ironhook taught me manners, how to grin through broken teeth, how to trade a bit of gossip for a knife tucked underneath. They put a rope around my neck, thought I’d dance for one last crowd, but I came back breathing, darling, and I came back bloody proud. Now I wear the scar like scripture, hide it neat beneath my tie, every mark’s a little sermon: hard men live and soft men die. [Pre-Chorus – smug, intimate] I know who’s getting out next week, I know who won’t last inside, I know what a boy will do when you put coin against his pride. [Chorus – bigger, more swagger] I’m the Kindly Man, mate, don’t you know? I open the doors where the lost kids go. One little job, one little smile, I take my share and call it style. I’m the Kindly Man, love, tip your hat, Doskvol made me sharp like that. You keep your prayers and your honest plan— I’ll keep the streets in the palm of my hand. [Verse 3 – smoother, manipulative] Little songbird came with sorrow, little brother came with need, I gave one a place to sing, gave one a way to bleed. Don’t you glare at me, Canary, like I chained him to the street, boys like Stray go looking hungry when they can’t stand feeling weak. I just showed him where the work was, just introduced him to the game, if he loved the taste of danger, don’t go putting me to shame. [Bridge – slower, theatrical, almost sincere] See, kindness ain’t a candle, kindness ain’t a saintly hand, kindness is a favour with a price you understand. I saved you from the gutter, from the cold and from the rain, and all I ask is loyalty— now say that with my name. [Breakdown – spoken over low guitar and bass] Eighty percent? That’s a cruel rumour, sweetheart. Seventy-five on a generous day. And if you wanted fair… you should’ve been born in Brightstone. [Final Chorus – full, villainous charm] I’m the Kindly Man, mate, don’t you know? I sell little ladders from the pit below. One little job, one little smile, I take my share and call it style. I’m the Kindly Man, love, tip your hat, Doskvol made me sharp like that. You keep your saints and your family plan— I’ll keep the streets in the palm of my hand. [Outro – soft, threatening, smiling] So come now, love… don’t make this ugly. You owe me one. Everybody does.
