[Intro - sparse keys, distant snare]
[Chorus: Woman Singing]
Ashes on my sneakers, I kept walking,
Stove-top steam, the whole block talking,
Turned those scraps into a ladder —
I climb, I rise, I don’t scatter.
[Production note: keep intro sparse so the female vocal opens with intimacy; add soft harmonies on repeat]
[Verse 1: Man Rapping]
Rain on the tin roof, Mama hums, grease in the air,
Porch light flickers, radio’s static — prayer in my chair.
Cracked linoleum, flour on the table from the bread she makes,
Neighbors trading canned tomatoes, two-dollar mistakes.
Hand-me-down coat, shoelaces knotted twice for warmth,
Bus bell at dawn, sticky dollar in my palm like a north.
Mrs. Rivera’s stoop, lemon soap and laundry steam,
I learned the map of hunger by the outline of a dream.
Nightlight in the hallway, father’s silhouette gone thin,
I read between the bill folds, wrote future on the margin’s rim.
Kept a coffee can of change beneath the bed — small hopes,
Learned to count tomorrow in the cracks of broken ropes.
[Chorus: Woman Singing — add 3-part harmony on 2nd line]
Ashes on my sneakers, I kept walking,
Stove-top steam, the whole block talking,
Turned those scraps into a ladder —
I climb, I rise, I don’t scatter.
[Verse 2: Man Rapping]
Teenage nights at Joe’s Diner — two eggs, neon hum,
Grill hiss, tips in a mason jar, I kept my thumb.
Principal’s note folded, smelled of smoke and ink,
Friends said ‘stay quiet,’ but I learned how to think.
Graffiti on the alley — my name in spray and grit,
A fist in the dark, a shirt ripped, a choice to not commit.
Late shift, night bus, cassette mixtapes and rhyme,
Saved up for a mic, a demo, fifty bucks and time.
Decisive like a coin flip — fight or flight at fourteen,
I chose the booth, chose the rec hall, chose to mean.
Worked the GED, morning classes under flicker lights,
Signed my name on the town audition at midnight.
Seeds of a verse began to take root in the scars,
Each small victory stacked like license plates and cars.
[Bridge: Woman Singing — build with call-and-response]
Hold the skillet high — (I saw the steam)
Count the broken nights — (I kept the dream)
From the corner store bells to the bus-stop lines,
From hands that fed me soup to the songs that kept time.
[Production note: before final chorus, brief instrumental breakdown — keys and muted trumpet, beat drops out for two bars, then returns with full band]
[Breakdown: sparse vocal ad-libs and beat pause]
(Oh — ashes, oh — rise)
[Final Chorus: Woman Singing with full harmonies and call-and-response]
Ashes on my sneakers, I kept walking,
Stove-top steam, the whole block talking,
Turned those scraps into a ladder —
I climb, I rise, I don’t scatter.
[Outro: Man Rapping — lifted standout line]
I wear my scars like a map that leads me home,
From a chipped blue porch to these lights, I roam.
Not just surviving — I am the proof and the poem,
Ashes on my sneakers, I made this place my own.
[Closing note: repeat the hook quietly as the music l
