[Verse 1] [spoken-sung, weary, sharp-eyed] A green cross flickers where the corner store died, Dispensary light like a candy shop inside. Mama’s workin’ double, daddy’s just a ghost, The dispensary man offers relief for the coast. They gift a paper crown to a concrete prince, A puff of peace that’s never made him wince. His playground’s a bench where the promises float, A paper boat in a resin moat. [Pre-Chorus] They hand out licenses to blur the view, Sweet sedation in a neon hue. The kids on the asphalt breathe the haze, Another generation lost in the glaze. [Chorus] [hook-heavy, melodic but heavy] Clouds over the playground, a candy-flavored cage, Traded future’s fire for a cool-burnin’ sage. Legal and lethal, wrapped in a gentle lie, While young eyes watch the embers of their sky. Ain’t no alarm when the smoke is state-approved, Just a lullaby the ghetto never removed. [Verse 2] He was nine when he learned the language of a blunt, Trauma’s translator, a slow-motion grunt. The storefront’s open, the after-school’s shut, Now he’s chasin’ a dragon’s breath in a paper hut. They told him it’s natural, a leaf from the earth, Same dirt where his hope has been buried since birth. Dreams dissolve in a rolling-paper seam, A quiet surrender that doesn’t even scream. [Pre-Chorus] They legalized the fog that dims the eyes, A generation’s blanket made of alibis. The system’s grind, the weight of the block, Met not with a fist but a keyless lock. [Chorus] Clouds over the playground, a candy-flavored cage, Traded future’s fire for a cool-burnin’ sage. Legal and lethal, wrapped in a gentle lie, While young eyes watch the embers of their sky. Ain’t no alarm when the smoke is state-approved, Just a lullaby the ghetto never removed. [Bridge] [breakdown: dub bass dives, scratching fragments — “kids… smoke… sleep… wake up…” half-spoken over sparse percussion] The green rush brings a tax to the state, While a little boy’s ambition learns to dissipate. A candy-coated coma for the aching soul, A hole inside the sky where a star should hold. [scratch: “approved… removed… the playground’s empty…”] They sold the cure that deepens the disease, A velvet chain invisible to breeze. [Chorus] [full band crashes, layers of vocal echoes, defiant sorrow] Clouds over the playground, a candy-flavored cage, They cashed in a child’s wonder for a chemical wage. Legal and lethal, a sanctioned lullaby, And the ghetto kids just watch the smoke rise high. No alarm, no riot, just a soft-approved decay, A generation breathing ashes into grey. [Outro] [groove decays, a lone hi-hat tick, spoken low] The dispensary hum… a lullaby so kind… Leaves the playground empty, steals the young mind… A paper crown crumbles in the hand… And the smoke just settles on the promised land. [final scratch: “clouds… just clouds…”, tape click, silence.]
