"Cardboard & Cold" Drum & Bass / 174 BPM / Female vocals, sub-heavy, atmospheric [Intro – Whispered, wind + distant sirens] Streetlights buzz... No names here... Just shadows and fear... [Verse 1 – Half-sung, brittle] Cardboard walls and concrete bed Count the stars inside my head Every dream I pawned for white Every love turned into night Steps behind me on the street Got no shoes, can't feel my feet Ask for change, they look away Another mouth I can't betray [Pre-Drop – Breathy, building tension, vinyl crackle] Need a hit to kill the cold Need a hand I cannot hold Say I'm gone when I'm right here Screaming silent through the years [Hook / Drop 1 – Vocal chops, Reese bass hits] **Homeless Hopeless Heart still beating but it's frozen** **Homeless Hopeless** Love was real 'til they all ghosted Homeless... Hopeless... [Verse 2 – Faster flow, desperate] 2am, the world’s a blur Neon signs, a painful slur Needle kisses, promise lies Mother's face in vacant eyes Shelter's full, my soul is too Of all the things I couldn't do Save a love I couldn't keep Sold my name to buy some sleep [Breakdown – Eerie pads, heartbeat kick, distant crying] I was somebody's daughter Now I'm rainwater Washing down the gutter Could I be more than... [Pre-Drop 2 – Rising, breath samples pitched down] Closer to the curb now Praying for a word now No one stops, they don't know That I... still... [Drop 2 – Heavier, distorted 808s, vocal screams as texture] **Homeless Hopeless** Crawling through the dark to find some solace **Homeless Hopeless** Still a heart here underneath the broken [Bridge – Spoken, rain fx] Is there mercy in the ache? Is there love in the mistakes? 'Cause I'm tired of being brave When the only home I know's a grave [Final Drop – Stripped to vocals, then slams back] Homeless... in this city of stone Hopeless... but I’m not alone In the bass, in the night, in the fight to survive Still alive... still alive... [Outro – Whisper, reverb washout] Streetlights buzz... No names here... But I’m still... here...
