[INTRO — 0:00–0:18 | whispered / eerie] Tick… tick… I hear it when the room goes silent. That voice in the back of my mind getting violent. Everybody runs when the shadows start forming— Me? I walk toward 'em. I am close with the darkness. [HOOK — 0:18–0:45 | HUGE, melodic + aggressive] I am close with the darkness, We talk when it's quiet, It knows all my secrets, I know how to hide 'em. I don't run from the night, I invite it inside, If the devil's at the door, Tell him, “Step inside.” I'm close with the darkness, Closer than most, It showed me the worst of me— Now look what I wrote. I don't fear what is lurking, I know what it's worth— I made friends with the darkness And brought it back to Earth. --- [VERSE 1 — 0:45–1:25 | slow, technical flow] I got a room in my head where the monsters reside, Every memory's a mirror with a crack in the side. Every thought got a pulse, every silence got peace Every skeleton I buried learned to crawl underneath. I was young when I learned how to laugh through the pain, Put a mask on my face while it rained in my brain. Everybody saw sunshine, I was staring at storms, Trying desperately to fit myself into their forms. But the darker it got, I got sharper with words, Started turning every nightmare to a stack of verbal acrobatics Now the demons that chased me are chasing the static I don't fight with the darkness— I ride with 'em. I've been down in the basement where the bad thoughts breed, Found a voice in the corner saying, “You got what you need.” It said, “Give me your fear.” I said, “Here's every ounce.” Then I handed it a microphone— Watch what comes out. --- [BEAT SWITCH #1 — 1:25 | distorted bass / drums drop] [HOOK — stripped-down chant] Close with the darkness— I know where it lives. Close with the darkness— I know what it gives. Close with the darkness— I know what it wants. So I gave it some of it— NOW WATCH IT RUN. --- [VERSE 2 — 1:38–2:15 | faster, aggressive cadence] Now I'm— Back in the basement with a backpack of madness, Bad habits, black magic, detached from the average. Half savage, half poet, all static and panic, Turn a catastrophic thought into an automatic classic. I don't need a ghostwriter— The ghosts write themselves. Every line on the page came straight out of hell. I put pain in a pattern, put rage in a rhyme, Then I sharpen every syllable and weaponize game Tick-tock— Who's watching the clock? I been talking to the walls and they're talking nonstop. Knock-knock— Who's there? Probably me. With a head full of nightmares and a mouth full of heat. I got demons serving fiends Angels looking nervous at the murder scene Every beat I touch turns into psychological murder. bodies— egos. people none equal I bury 'em in verbs. If words are ammunition, Then I'm reloading after every verse it's a blessing and a curse --- [PRE-HOOK — 2:15 | music cuts out] Shhh… Listen. Hear that? That's the darkness breathing. And it's getting closer. --- [BEAT SWITCH #2 — 2:22 | explosive drums / distorted bass] [FINAL VERSE — 2:25–2:58 | INSANE RAPID-FIRE] I'm close with the darkness, I walk where the lost go, Black coat, cracked soul, Back roads, last hope. Fast flow, mad mode, Can't slow, gas pedal, Every bar sharp enough foot straight to the pedal To carve all out by me the devil. I don't need a halo, I came for the chaos, Came with a payload of phrases That break through your payroll rates cuz Break through your brain cells, Break through your safe zone, Break through the silence And shake up your grave stones some calling it violence I made peace with the pieces Of the person I was, Made a feast from the fears That were feeding the steer Every scar became a sentence, Every sentence became hard Every failure left a fingerprint tearing me apart I'm not running from it— I'm becoming enormous. You wanted the light? Well, I'm coming with darkness. I studied every shadow, Every shape, every frame Every demon in the game leaving that feeling some call it insane Now the thing that used to haunt me Is the thing that makes me dangerous, Turned all of my anguish Into something contagious. I'm— Too close to the edge, Too awake for the dead, Too many voices That are living in my head. But I don't let 'em drive, I just give 'em the wheel For a second I kill em Then I tell 'em, “Be still.” Because— I am close with the darkness, But the darkness ain't will It can knock on the door, But it don't get to kill I walked through the fire, Came out with the scars, Looked straight at the darkness And said, “I know who you are.” --- [FINAL HOOK — 2:58–3:15 | massive layered vocals] I AM CLOSE WITH THE DARKNESS! We talk when it's quiet! I KNOW ALL ITS SECRETS! It knows where I hide 'em! I DON'T RUN FROM THE NIGHT— I INVITE IT INSIDE! If the darkness wants a war— I'm close with the darkness, Closer than most. It showed me the worst of me— NOW LOOK WHAT I WROTE! .
