(INTRO — smoky speakeasy | dirty upright piano, vinyl crackle, resonator guitar, distant erhu, low 808 pulse) (MALE — low, weathered, almost spoken) They told me, "Boy, you better fight those demons." Like I ain't known 'em all my life. Some were born from things I buried. Some were forged on sleepless nights. (STEADY MALE SCAT — brushed snare, upright bass) Mm-ba-da-dum... ba-da-drr... Mm-ka-ta... dum-ba-drr... (MALE — outlaw-country groove | slide guitar, kick drum, dirty piano) I don't fight my demons. I'd only bloody my own hands. I don't cage my demons. Cages never taught a thing to understand. I don't run from my demons. Hell, they'd know where I would go. I don't kneel before my demons. And they don't run the show. (GLITCH BREAK — scat chopped into percussion | 808, shamisen strikes) Ba-da-DUM—ka / tik-ka-drr— Ba-da-DUM—ka / tik-ka-drr— (FEMALE — smoky, controlled | koto, taiko heartbeat, erhu) They told me there are two wolves, Both waiting underneath my skin. Feed the good and starve the other, Then tell yourself which one should win. (FEMALE — stronger | taiko, shamisen, sub-bass) But hunger makes a creature desperate. And starving never taught control. So I set a place for both of them. Both wolves belong to the whole. (PRE-CHORUS — FEMALE | Viking frame drums building) I feed the one that carries mercy. I feed the one that carries teeth. One knows when to offer kindness. One knows when kindness needs some steel beneath. (CHORUS — MALE/FEMALE alternating | heavy guitars, taiko, fiddle, war drums, 808) (MALE) I don't fight my demons— (FEMALE) I don't starve my wolves— (MALE) I know every shadow— (FEMALE) I feed them both— (BOTH — huge) We are not halves at war inside, Not broken pieces choosing sides. Dark and light don't have to choose— I keep my demons. I feed my wolves. (INSTRUMENTAL RUN — rapid fiddle + shamisen duel, distorted slide guitar, taiko, trap hats, glitch bass) (SCAT — MALE starts, FEMALE answers) (MALE) Mm-ba-da-drr, ka-da-DUM— (FEMALE) Ta-ka-ra, mm-ba-DUM— (BOTH — accelerating) Ba-da-ka-ta / drr-ka-DUM / Tikka-ratta / mm-ba-RUM / Ba-da-ka—ba-da-ka— DUM-DUM-DUM! (HARD DROP — silence) (MALE — bare resonator guitar) Some demons carry anger. Some remember every scar. Some learned exactly what it costs To survive the things that made us who we are. (FEMALE — erhu + low taiko heartbeat) One wolf knows the warmth of daylight. One can see when there is none. Neither needs to kill the other. Neither needs to fucking run. (MALE — drums returning) I don't worship what is darker. I don't pretend that it ain't there. (FEMALE) I don't muzzle what can bite. I teach the teeth when not to bare. (MALE) Mine don't need forgiveness. (FEMALE) Mine don't need a chain. (BOTH) Everything that walked us here Gets a seat beside our name. (BRIDGE — bluesy speakeasy becomes Viking ritual | piano → frame drums → throat-singing undertone) (MALE — quiet) You call peace weakness? (FEMALE — quiet) That's a dangerous mistake. (MALE) Mine are quiet because I choose it. (FEMALE) Mine are still because I say. (BOTH — controlled, almost whispered) Don't make us show you why we keep them that way. (BUILD — steady scat returns | piano + koto + banjo + taiko + 808) (MALE SCAT) Mm-ba-da-dum, ba-da-drr— (FEMALE SCAT) Ka-ta-ra-dum, tikka-drr— (BOTH — faster) Ba-da-ka-ta / mm-da-rum / Tikka-ratta / DUM-da-DUM / Hey—! Ha—! Drr-ra-ka-ta-DUM! (FINAL CHORUS — FULL FUSION | heavy Southern guitars, fiddle, shamisen, koto, erhu, taiko, Viking drums, war horns, trap 808, glitch synths) (MALE) I don't fight my demons! (FEMALE) I feed both wolves! (MALE) Every scar remembers— (FEMALE) Every shadow belongs— (BOTH) We are the calm! We are the storm! The teeth, the mercy, the scar and the warmth! No half denied! No half removed! He keeps his demons! She feeds her wolves! (MALE — gravel roar) THEY'RE MINE! (FEMALE — powerful) THEY'RE BOTH MINE! (BOTH) AND WE CHOOSE WHAT WALKS OUTSIDE! (GLITCH-MOD BREAKDOWN — frantic scat chopped against fiddle/shamisen/taiko) (BOTH SCAT — extremely rapid but locked groove) Ba-da-ratta-ka / tikka-dum-drr / Mm-ba-ka-ta-ra / DUM-ka-brr / Ratta-tikka-ba-da-ka-ta / DUM—DUM—DUM—DUM! (OUTRO — everything strips away to slide guitar + taiko heartbeat) (MALE — low) My demons never left. (FEMALE — low) My wolves never had to fight. (BOTH — quiet) Nothing inside us had to die for us to choose the light. (ONE FINAL PIANO NOTE + LOW TAIKO HIT)
