**THE ANATOMY OF A PANIC ROOM** **[Intro — whispered / guitar feedback]** Lock the door. Check the window. Check it again. Don't breathe too loud. **[Verse 1 — rapid-fire rap]** Four walls, one chair, two eyes on the clock, Three deadbolts between me and the knock, Every little sound turns into a threat, Every shadow's something I haven't escaped yet. Phone on the table, battery at ten, Should I call somebody? Who would I call then? Footsteps outside— Wait, they're gone. Heart keeps racing after the danger moves on. I built this place one fear at a time, Measured every exit, memorized every line. Thought I was protecting what was left of me— Now the walls are getting closer every time I breathe. **[Pre-Chorus — gang vocals]** LOCK IT! **CHECK IT!** COUNT THE BOLTS! **HOLD YOUR BREATH!** DON'T LET GO! **[Chorus — massive gang shout]** **THIS IS THE ANATOMY OF A PANIC ROOM!** EVERY WALL I BUILT IS CLOSING IN TOO SOON! **THIS IS THE ANATOMY OF A PANIC ROOM!** I BUILT IT FOR SAFETY— NOW I'M TRAPPED INSIDE THE TOMB! **GET OUT!** **GET OUT!** BUT WHERE DO I GO? WHEN THE ENEMY IS THE FEAR I KNOW? **[Verse 2 — faster, jagged cadence]** I know every crack in the ceiling, Every noise in the hall, Every possible reason something bad could befall. I rehearse disasters before they arrive, Write contingency plans just to feel alive. What if? What if? What if I'm wrong? What if the threat was never there all along? What if the lock isn't keeping them out? What if the lock is keeping me down? I turned caution into ritual, ritual into law, Law into a prison I can't remember building at all. **[Breakdown — stop/start riff]** ONE! **CHECK THE DOOR!** TWO! **CHECK THE LOCK!** THREE! **CHECK THE WINDOW!** FOUR! **CHECK THE CLOCK!** AGAIN! **ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!** **[Guitar slam]** **I'M STILL HERE!** **[Verse 3 — half-time rap]** Maybe courage isn't never being afraid, Maybe courage is admitting the fortress never saved me. I confused control with keeping myself safe, Confused isolation with escaping pain. Every wall had a reason. Every lock had a name. Every rule was protection from repeating the same. But a room built entirely from fear and suspicion doesn't become freedom just because you call it security. **[Bridge — quiet spoken vocals]** Listen. Nothing. No footsteps. No breaking glass. No voice outside the door. Just your own breathing. So why are you still hiding? **[Band builds]** Open it. **[Full-band explosion]** **OPEN THE DOOR!** **[Final Chorus — gang vocals]** **THIS IS THE ANATOMY OF A PANIC ROOM!** EVERY WALL I BUILT IS CLOSING IN TOO SOON! **THIS IS THE ANATOMY OF A PANIC ROOM!** I BUILT IT FOR SAFETY— NOW I'M BREAKING THROUGH! **GET OUT!** **GET OUT!** NOWHERE LEFT TO RUN! THE WAR INSIDE MY HEAD IS FINALLY COMING UNDONE! **[Outro — guitar chugs / shouted]** ONE LESS LOCK! **ONE LESS WALL!** ONE MORE BREATH! **THAT'S ALL!** ONE MORE STEP! **ONE MORE DOOR!** I'M NOT HIDING **ANYMORE!**
