[Intro] Rain again. Same sound as Track One. Different man listening. Sirens somewhere far off. Not coming this way. For once... I don't need to know why. [Verse 1] Morning after the sirens, rain crawling down the pane. Coffee sitting by the window, three piano notes again. Same notes used to sound like danger. Now they sound like something changed. Funny how a melody gets different when the listener ain't the same. Woman sleeping on my shoulder, phone face-down beside the bed. Used to wake and check notifications like betrayal lived ahead. Now I let that motherfucker buzz. If it's important, it'll wait. Peace used to make me nervous. Now I guard it like a safe. Down the hall I hear the kids. Somebody dropped something loud. Then I hear, “It wasn't me!” Damn near laugh myself out. That's wealth. Not the car. Not the chain. Not whoever knows my name. It's hearing life inside the house after years around the grave. [Pre-Chorus] I spent so long surviving I forgot survival got an end. You supposed to build a life after you make it through the wind. [Hook] Morning after the sirens, sun breaking through the rain. I still got neon wounds, they just don't hurt me quite the same. Morning after the sirens, everybody I love still here. That's richer than a million when you spent your youth in fear. Let the harmonica cry. Let the horns come in. I ain't beat the past. I just stopped letting that motherfucker win. [Verse 2] I think about Rico sometimes when something funny happen. Still catch myself reaching for my phone like I can call him laughing. Then reality sits down. That's grief. It never fully leaves. It just learns a quieter voice and stops screaming when you breathe. I used to remember how he died. Now I remember how he lived. How he owed everybody three dollars, never paid a fucking cent. How his mama knew our lies. How we broke that old screen door. How we thought we had forever because seventeen felt long. That's better. Death already stole enough. I won't let it steal the jokes. Won't reduce my brothers to some candles, shirts and smoke. If they watching, I hope they laughing. “Look at bro, he got some gray.” Yeah. And I'm keeping every strand. Somebody had to fucking age. [Hook] Morning after the sirens, sun breaking through the rain. I still got neon wounds, they just don't hurt me quite the same. Morning after the sirens, everybody I love still here. That's richer than a million when you spent your youth in fear. Let the guitar cry. Let the bass roll in. I ain't beat the past. I just stopped letting that motherfucker win. [Verse 3] Mama calls around nine. Not terrified. Just talking shit. “Boy, you coming by today?” Yeah, Ma. “What time?” You know I hate committing. She laughs. That's what changed. Her phone calls ain't alarms. No more hearing sirens outside then wondering if I got harmed. My woman walks into the kitchen wearing one of my old shirts. Says, “You staring again.” I say, “Damn, can't I admire what works?” She rolls her eyes. Same attitude. Still fine. Still here. We done survived enough arguments to know love ain't disappearing every time somebody gets mad. Love got boundaries. Love got space. Love got “Call me when you calm down.” Then love got eating takeout twenty minutes later on the couch. That's real. Not perfect. Perfect ain't never been the goal. I just wanted something honest that didn't cost me my whole soul. [Bridge] And if some young nicka hear this thinking money fix the ache— Money useful. Money powerful. Money gives your babies space. But don't ask money to heal trauma. That ain't money's fucking job. Don't ask women to save you. Don't ask pride to make you God. Build the business. Buy the car. Take the trip. Wear the chain. Just don't spend your whole damn future proving you escaped the pain. Because the craziest flex I learned? Coming home. Sleeping good. Getting older. Being boring sometimes. Loving people like you should. [Final Hook] Morning after the sirens, now the whole sky turning gold. I used to pray to get rich. Now I pray to just get old. Morning after the sirens, kids laughing down the hall. My woman dancing in the kitchen. Mama ain't scared when I call. Morning after the sirens, raise the strings and let 'em soar. Every neon wound still with me... but they ain't driving anymore. Morning after the sirens, let the 808 shake the floor. I survived long enough to learn: peace ain't boring. Peace is what I was fighting for. [Outro] Rain stopped. Same three piano notes. One... two... three. Then silence. Not scary silence. Home silence. Coffee brewing. Kids arguing. Her laughing. Mama calling again because apparently nine minutes was too long. Yeah. This is it. No funeral. No chase. No proving shit. Just morning. And after everything... that's a hell of an ending.
