Before You Pass Sentence — Whispering Pirate Woo Take a knee… Not every silence is a lie. Not every rough edge means they’re broken. Sometimes you gotta ask… before you pass the sentence. I know the mirror don’t forgive When you won’t look it in the face And truth gets hard to live When pride starts taking up the space Self-reflection cuts deep Accountability draws blood I’ve seen strong men freeze Standing knee-deep in the flood Some laugh when they’re afraid Some swing when they feel small Some don’t know how to say They’re barely standing up at all That don’t excuse the poison That don’t make the crooked straight But there’s a line between wisdom And throwing someone to the flames Ask before the sentence Look before you throw ’em away Somebody’s carrying wreckage You couldn’t see in the light of day Hold the line, but hold it steady Don’t let mercy make you blind Accountability matters But discernment saves the line Ask before the sentence Before you draw that line You don’t know the nights they fought Just to keep from giving in Or the wars nobody saw That they barely didn’t end Every scar don’t show itself Every truth don’t make a sound Some people lose their way Just trying not to drown And yeah, there’s lines you don’t cross Yeah, there’s debts you gotta pay But judgment without vision Just buries truth in gray Don’t crown yourself the jury If you never heard the case There’s a cost to every verdict When you rush it into place Ask before the sentence Look before you throw ’em away Somebody’s carrying wreckage You couldn’t see in the light of day Hold the line, but hold it steady Don’t let mercy make you blind Accountability matters But discernment saves the line Ask before the sentence Before you draw that line I ain’t saying let it slide… I ain’t saying wrong is right… I’m saying see the whole damn picture Before you swing with all your might Look deeper… Stay human… Ask before the sentence Look before you throw ’em away Everybody’s got a story You ain’t lived a single day Hold the line, but hold it steady Truth and mercy intertwined You can stand for what is right Without going cold inside Ask before the sentence Yeah, before you draw that line Sometimes the strongest thing you can do… is understand before you decide.
