[Intro – solo fingerpicked guitar, spoken, close-mic] Lights on in the tower, they never sleep Neither do I I just don't get paid for it [Verse 1 – restrained, raspy, conversational] Glass towers stacked like they dare God to blink Men up top sign a thousand lives away in ink They never see the hands that hold the elevator doors The ones who scrub the marble, the ones who mop the floors I'm out at five, the whole city's still asleep Kiss my brother's forehead, tell him he'll eat Bus smells like wet coats and quiet prayers Everybody's carrying somebody nobody cares for [Pre-Chorus – barely above a whisper] The city says it loves you Till you can't afford the view [Chorus – soulful, melodic, sparse felt keys] Oh, Metropolis, you're built on bones Gold on the skyline, cold as stone You feed the ones who already ate And call it fate, you call it fate... Oh, Metropolis, I'm still here Holding up your sky with my fear [Verse 2 – heartbeat kick enters, slightly firmer] Heart of darkness in a tailored coat Sells a man's whole year to keep a yacht afloat Says "work harder," never held a shovel Never sat in the kitchen counting change in the trouble They laugh in rooms with no windows, no air I'm ambitious too, but I'm climbing from under the stairs They got a ladder, I got a rusted key They call it hustle when it's them, it's a crime when it's me [Chorus – fuller, still organic] Yo, Metropolis, you're built on bones Gold on the skyline, cold as stone You feed the ones who already ate And call it fate, you call it fate Oh, Metropolis, I'm still here Holding up your sky with my fear [Bridge – stripped back, guitar and voice, cracked delivery] My son has asked me, "Daddy, are we poor?" I said, "Buddy, we're just early." He looked at me like he knew I was lying And that's the day I stopped all the trying And started being dangerous [Final Verse – explosive, raw, shouted, drums hit hard, voice breaking] So keep your damn towers, keep your throne I built the floor you're standing on, you don't even fucking know Every brick you polished with your name on the door Had my blood in the mortar, my sweat on the floor You made a monster out of a man who only wanted bread Now I'm coming up the stairs with a whole city in my head Every hand you stepped on, every door that you shut Is a fist in a chorus and I'm the first one up They said we don't matter, said we don't count Watch us climb, watch us rise, watch us take it all down [Break – all instruments drop out completely, silence] [Final Line – spoken, unaccompanied, quiet, cracked] I just wanted him to have a better sky. [End]
