[Verse 1] I learned pain 'fore peace ever slid down my block Moms cried low while the landlord kept grinnin' Lights got cut, stove flame tickin' on the clock Old coat ripped wide where the cold kept gettin' in Pops was a ghost with a fist and a crown Talkin' like a king with the rent past due Left quiet marks when the lights went down Told me "toughen up", then asked why my words cut through School sold dreams with a loan on the tag Home stayed loud, thin walls, cops near They call you "strong" when you broke and you drag Then act real shocked when the pain turns spear I made bars outta hunger, made drums outta doors Made rhymes from nights I was barely alive They build big towers on broke-ass floors Then ask why the basement got fire inside [Pre-Chorus] I been low I been bare Chest tight breath thin, ain't much air Every wound got a name Every damn night loopin' back the same [Chorus] Real life hurts but I still stand Broken heart dirt on my hands Real life hurts I won’t fold now I was made in the fire somehow [Verse 2] Bills on the table like warrants in rows Room so quiet you can hear hope run Twenty-buck dream in a coffin that glows Cheap little heaven with a price-tag sun Pressure get loud and the homies go ghost Everybody solid till the rent come due They love your shine, then they tax your post They dip when the smoke stop hidin' the truth Seen good dudes go cold for a plate Seen bright guys flex with a steel-face fate Seen kids act hard so the fear stay masked Seen mirrors ask who the hell just passed They sell us cages and call it a grind Sell us the rope, then they blame the fall Turn pain into merch, call trauma "prime" Then stream our screams through a platinum wall Everybody preach when your pockets stay flat Everybody judge when your fridge stay bare They say "work hard", like we ain't done that Like the whole damn game ain't built to burn us there [Pre-Chorus] I been cut I been drained Blood dry eyes wide, still chained Every scar tells truth Every truth came back with proof [Chorus] Real life hurts but I still stand Lost my way blood on my hands Real life hurts watch the world burn down I'm the fire they made somehow [Bridge] If I fall, let me fall face-first Into every lie that they sold me honest If I break, let the whole damn thing burst No gold paint on a busted-up conscience I ain't ask for no easy road Just one spark where the cold winds blow Little light in my soul's back pocket Small as a match, but it still won't go Let them suits call pain "resilience" Let them rich folks call hunger "drive" I call it theft with a cleaner sentence But I'm still here, still sharp, still alive They built this world outta smoke and debt Stacked cold bricks on a broke kid's chest Now the sky turn red when I light my breath If it all burn down, let the truth stand left They want broke kids quiet, polite, and numb Want poor folks grateful for crumbs and stress But I came from the bottom where the sirens hum Now I walk through the flames with dirt on my chest [Final Chorus] Real life burns and I still stand Go my own way ashes on my hands Real life burns this flame won't go out I'm the fire itself right now Real life burns and I still stand Leave all away past off my hands Real life burns let the whole world blow out I was made in the fire somehow
