[Intro: stomping drums, one clap] Say when Don't move [Hook: Female vocalist sings, gang answers] Say when! (Say when!) I don't blink, I don't breathe, I don't bend Say when! (Say when!) If you flinch you already ended [Verse 1: Male MC] I paint the outline on the pine with a grease pencil thin She steps in the shape like she's steppin' into skin Crowd wants a miss. Crowd wants a gasp and a scar We give 'em a rhythm they can feel in the bar First knife in the shoulder line, second by the ear Third kisses the pine a half inch from the fear She never looks at the blade. She looks past my hand That's the whole trick. Trust ain't a magic brand Learned it in a parking lot with a rubber and a wall Her brother threw first. I threw after the fall We don't do blood for applause. We do stillness for pay Two words is the contract. She owns when I play [Hook: Female vocalist sings, gang answers] Say when! (Say when!) I don't blink, I don't breathe, I don't bend Say when! (Say when!) If you flinch you already ended [Verse 2: Male MC, drums tighten] One night a drunk in the front row wanted a show Yelled "closer" like courage was a thing you can owe She raised one finger. I waited. Whole room went thin She said the two words softer than she'd ever said them I put four in a square around her wrist like a frame Drunk sat down quiet like he suddenly knew shame Afterward she lit a smoke with a hand that didn't shake I packed the kit. We split the door take People think the danger is the knife in the air Danger is the second you decide you don't care about the person in the paint. That's when the act dies We keep it alive by refusin' cheap highs [Breakdown: half-time, gang shouts] Hold! (Hold!) Still! (Still!) Say when! Say when! [Beat Switch: double-time drums, full stomp] Tour bus, state lines, same pine, new town Same two words before the first blade comes down She got a kid now who thinks mom's job is a game We don't bring him backstage. We keep the knives tame in the case 'til the lights. Then the lights make it true I throw for her voice. She stands for the room You can keep your death-wish acts and your blood-on-the-board We sell the opposite: a promise you can't afford to break. Say when means stop. Say when means go Say when means I hear you even when the drums are low [Verse 3: Male MC, then hook] Last show of the month, she had a fever and a doubt I offered to cancel. She stepped in the outline anyway, out loud: "Say when." Soft. Sure. Same as year one I threw clean. We bowed. Pack-up. We were done [Final Hook: Female vocalist, gang, full drums] Say when! (Say when!) I don't blink, I don't breathe, I don't bend Say when! (Say when!) If you flinch you already ended Say when! (Say when!) Trust ain't a trick, it's a decision you defend Say when! [Outro: stomp fades] Board Clear
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