[Intro] [Heavy Bass] [Spoken, low] Eastgarde... never asked to be born into the wreckage— [Verse 1] Born in the back alley, shadow of a chapel that collapsed, Mama cruel sober, worse when she relapsed, Daddy disappearing, resurrecting violent, half-mad high, Furniture in fragments, that's the lullaby that raised me, why I learned to read a room before I learned to read a page, Learned to vanish quiet, learned to swallow all the rage, Thirteen and I'm gone, one more beating was the final straw, No plan, no money, just the cold stone and the law of the street, survive or sleep beneath the cart wheel, Pretty face, fast feet, taught myself to never feel— smoke to steady hands that used to shake from what they saw, Pretending I don't care became my only iron law. [Pre-Chorus] I'm a product of the pavement, every scar a sentence, Every breath I take in Eastgarde is repentance— [Chorus] Gallows Dogs, we ran with nothing but each other, Vinny, Jimmy, Sazita, Horwrick — closer than a brother, Robbed the road, ran the shadows, did what The Bloods wouldn't dirty, Scimitar flashing, smile dangerous, but the debt's still owed to Eastgarde— [Verse 2] Captain of a crew that never called themselves heroes, Talker with a blade, my word cut sharper than a zero in your bank account after we came through the pass, Jimmy at my back, loyal past the point of common sense, Sazita with a knife-tongue sharper than her actual blade, Horwrick doing math on every move before it's made, We ran protection, smuggled, took what greedy men could spare, Survival came before the morals, I don't need your judgment stare— I drank the nights in cheap rooms, smoked until my lungs went numb, Slept beside whoever made the silence feel like home, Warmth was currency and I was broke enough to trade it, Never built a love I didn't burn before I made it. [Verse 3 — the turn] Then I crossed a line I knew I shouldn't cross that night, Sazita in the dark while the whole city caught alight, Zombies in the street while I was chasing my own pleasure, Jimmy took a bite meant for me — that's a debt I'll never measure. Three days hiding, pretending that a wound's just a wound, Nursing him and lying, praying to a god that don't attune to men like me — then Jimmy turned, and I'm the one who ended it, My own hand, my own blade, my own friend — that's the sentence I'm defendant in. No one talks about the seconds right before he died, What he said, if he said anything, I keep that locked inside. [Bridge] [Ellipses / slow] Horwrick got Sazita out... before I dragged them down too... They left without a fight... I didn't stop them... what more could I do... Alone above the graveyard, tree house built from broken wood, Smoking, drinking rainwater, nobody thought I would survive the winter of my own head — nightmares every night, Jimmy's voice accusing, Sazita walking out of sight, Rolled over in my sleep and gravity remembered my name, Fell into the dirt below — broke ribs, broke pride, same pain. [Chorus] Gallows Dogs, we ran with nothing but each other, Vinny, Jimmy, Sazita, Horwrick — closer than a brother, Robbed the road, ran the shadows, did what The Bloods wouldn't dirty, Scimitar flashing, smile dangerous, but the debt's still owed to Eastgarde— [Outro] [Female Vocal Harmony] [Soft, reflective] Tsani and Rissa found me half-dead by the stones, Didn't know my sins, just refused to leave me alone, New colony, new ghosts still whisper what I've done, Still smoke, still lie, still carry my scimitar and run from the man I used to be — but for the first time since it burned, I ain't alone in the dark... and that's the scariest lesson learned. [End]
