[INTRO — VINYL CRACKLE, DISTANT SIRENS] [Spoken, low and cold] Yeah... Funny how the streets remember everything. Every promise. Every betrayal. Every name. [Slow sad piano enters] I ain't paranoid... I just learned to watch the room. [VERSE 1 — 16 BARS] [Deep raspy male vocal, laid-back West Coast flow] I came from broken windows, sirens in the night, Mama kept the porch lamp on, prayin' I'd be alright. Homies turned to memories, pictures on the wall, We were raised to stand tall even when the heavens fall. [Heavy kick enters] I learned loyalty from people who betrayed me, Learned love from all the women who couldn't save me. Now I ride through the city with the windows low, Got a cemetery full of names everywhere I go. [More aggressive, emotional delivery] I don't fear death, I fear dying for nothing, So I turned every scar into a reason for becoming. They smile in your face while they're counting your flaws, Everybody wants the crown, nobody respects the cost. [Pause between lines] I gave my heart to the streets — they gave it back cold, Twenty stories in my eyes that I never told. If tomorrow never comes, let the whole world know: I stayed ten toes down when I had nowhere to go. [PRE-CHORUS — DRUMS DROP, CRYING SYNTH] [Half-sung, cracked vocal] Who can I trust... When love got a price? Who gonna stay... When you're losing the fight? [CHORUS — WIDE REVERB, DOUBLE-TRACKED VOCALS] [Raw emotional singing, powerful but wounded] ONLY THE NIGHT KNOWS... How many tears I hide. I keep my head up high, With a war going on inside. [Backing vocals: “inside... inside...”] ONLY THE NIGHT KNOWS... How many times I've died. If tomorrow takes my life, Tell my people that I tried. [Ad-lib: “I tried...”] [G-FUNK SYNTH SOLO — 4 BARS] [High whining synth bends, deep 808 underneath] [VERSE 2 — 16 BARS] [Low raspy vocal, controlled aggression] I seen brothers sell brothers for a pocket full of change, Then show up at the funeral screaming out their name. That's the game where I'm from, everybody got a mask, They'll celebrate your future while they're praying for your past. [Harder snare, deeper 808] So I keep one eye open when I'm talking to a friend, 'Cause the hand around your shoulder might be plotting your end. Ain't no peace in these streets, just a temporary truce, Everybody claims they're real till reality wants proof. [Tighter flow, rising intensity] Got ghosts in my rearview, pain in my chest, Still asking God why He keeps giving me tests. Maybe pressure made the man, maybe sorrow made the poet, Maybe every broken piece made me stronger and I know it. [Beat strips down — kick, bass, vocal] I ain't asking for forgiveness, I'm just asking for truth, 'Cause they stole half my innocence and buried my youth. If the world wants a villain, let 'em call me what they will, I survived everything that was supposed to get me killed. [BRIDGE — PIANO ONLY] [Spoken, intimate, exhausted] Maybe I ain't angry... Maybe I'm just tired of burying people I thought I'd grow old with. [FINAL CHORUS — CINEMATIC STRINGS, BIG VOCALS] [Powerful cracked vocal, near-shouted] ONLY THE NIGHT KNOWS! How many tears I hide! I keep my head up high, With a war going on inside! [Ad-libs: “KEEP YA HEAD UP!” / “YEAH!”] ONLY THE NIGHT KNOWS! How many times I've died! If tomorrow takes my life... Tell my people that I tried! [Backing vocals: “He tried... he tried...”] [OUTRO — DRUMS FADE, VINYL CRACKLE] [Spoken, low voice] They thought pain would break me. Nah. Pain introduced me to myself. [Long whining G-Funk synth bend] [VINYL STOP]
