[Spoken Intro – gravel voice, half bitter, half amused] He offered me gold once. Said I’d earned it. But I told him I don’t need gold. I need silence that don’t scream. And boots that don’t stick to the past. He laughed. Then paid me in cigarettes. [Verse 1 – low and slow] My spine’s got a limp and my shadow won’t stay, My friends all got tombstones with better things to say. My hands shake the bottle, my eyes shake the night— And the jukebox keeps skipping to songs I won’t fight. [Chorus – rising like smoke, horns swell in] So strike up the hymn with a match and regret, And light every truth that I tried to forget. If heaven won’t take me, then hell’s in my debt— And the devil, well… he pays in cigarettes. [Verse 2 – more melodic, voice cracks at edges] I’ve danced with the sirens and bled with the saints, Carved my forgiveness in flammable paint. I’ve bargained with ghosts just to borrow a breath, And sold every heartbeat to buy back my death. [Bridge – almost spoken, barely held together] I don't want redemption. I want a barstool that creaks. I want silence that’s honest. And coffee that speaks. I want to forget the last sunrise I saw— And remember the one that still smelled like war. [Final Chorus – fading but fierce] So toast to the curse, and the debts I regret, To the song in my chest that ain’t stopped singing yet. To the fool with no future, no past to forget— And the devil, still paying… in cigarettes.
0/500