Eat or Be Eaten (Remastered)

Title: Eat or Be Eaten (Swampy blues / southern rock feel, slow groove with slide guitar and tremolo) Verse 1 Fog lay thick on the bayou line Morning crawlin’, no sense of time Cypress knees like ghosts in prayer Still black water, heavy air Old tin boat and a sputterin’ motor Coffee gone cold in a rusted holder Sun just tryin’ to break on through Didn’t know what I was driftin’ into Pre-Chorus Then a crack like thunder in the wood Boat jumped sideways—ain’t nothin’ good Chorus It’s eat or be eaten, down in the mud Where the still water whispers and it smells like blood No time for thinkin’, no time for pleadin’ You learn real fast—it’s eat or be eaten Verse 2 Hit a log, got tossed like a stone Cold black water took me home Boots dragged heavy, pulled me down Silence broke with a low, dark sound Eyes like fire just beneath the skin Ancient hunger, cold as sin Circle tight, I felt that glide Death roll waitin’ just outside Pre-Chorus Heart beat louder than a shotgun blast Knew right then—this could be my last Chorus It’s eat or be eaten, teeth in the tide Ain’t no place left for a man to hide Clawin’ for breath while somethin’s creepin’ You learn real fast—it’s eat or be eaten Bridge (slow, tense) Hands shakin’, grabbed my knife Steel felt small in the face of life Water churned, tail cut wide I met them eyes—I didn’t hide (Instrumental break – slide guitar mimics gator movement, rising tension) Verse 3 He came at me like the end of days Mud and fury in a death roll haze I drove that blade where the scales run thin Fought like hell just to stay within Water turned to a red-brown swirl Man and beast in a twisted whirl Then it stilled… just breath and sky Didn’t know if I’d live or die Chorus (harder, triumphant) It’s eat or be eaten, law of the deep Where the roots run tangled and the shadows keep I was the hunted, now I’m the reapin’ I learned it hard—it’s eat or be eaten Outro (gritty, reflective) Back on shore with the sun burnin’ high Blood on my hands, truth in my eyes Fire that night, meat on the flame Ain’t proud of it—but I ain’t the same Fog rolled back where the river lay Bayou took, but I took that day… (Final line, slow) He should’ve known… I don’t scare easy.