[Intro - Choir (staccato) / Sparse Keys arpeggiate]
Choir: Take me back—
Lead: From the dark—
Choir: Take me back—
Lead: From the dark—
Choir (staccato, tight harmony on 2 & 4): Take me back—
Lead (answer, breathy): From the dark—
Full line (Choir + Lead): Can’t these demons hold me down? (808 slide on "down")
[Verse 1 - Lead (triplet cadence), keys arpeggiating, low 808 under]
808 knocks, alley lights fracture my shadow, I move in threes (yeah)
Rusted chain on my ankle — I kick it off, metal sings on the breeze (ay)
Snare snaps like a shutter, city breath in a minor key, I breathe slow, breathe free
Keyboard threads the skyline, glass-steel symphony, I carve out a way to be
Concrete bloodlines, neon veins, I count the steps — one-two-trip
Demons whisper banknotes, cold rope, cheap promises — I rip
Strings bow low, then climb, they lift the collar of my night (strings swell)
I lace my heartbeat to the hi-hat, chest drum — I’m set to fight (woo)
[Pre-Chorus - Lead + Choir swell (strings swell on the last line)]
Lead (melodic): Whispers lengthen, try to pull the seams (yeah)
Choir (soft pads, harmonies on 2 & 4): Ooh—
Lead: But my rhythm holds the map between the dreams (ay)
Production cue: (strings swell, choir pads push up 2 & 4)
Lead: Take me back — find the beam I’m clinging to (hold)
Choir (sotto): Take me back — push the dark askew
[Chorus A - Call & Response, Choir staccato / Lead finishes]
Choir (staccato): Take me back—
Lead (punch): From the dark— (breath)
Choir (rising): Take me back—
Lead (punch): From the dark—
Choir + Lead (full, anthem): Can’t these demons hold me down? (808 slide down, choir on beats 2 & 4)
Ad-libs: (yeah) (ay) (nope) (woo)
[Verse 2 - Lead rap, tighter triplets, concrete images, sparse keys]
Beat thumps like funeral drums but my shoes keep the tempo, I stay light
Mailbox fire, busted streetlamp — my shadow learns how to fight night
I spit receipts of small-loss nights, stitched them into my coat (skrrt)
Keyboard flicks like lighter flame, it draws the route when hope floats
Triple-tongue flow — I bounce syllables against the kick, trip-trip-tick
Demons reach with sticky hands, I slide past — watch my wrist flick (yeah)
Strings peek under, countermelody like a ladder to the sun
I tape a wish to a subway card, press it, watch the turnstile run
[Pre-Chorus 2 - Melodic, build; strings swell, choir harmonies lift]
Lead: Quiet rooms echo loud, but sound becomes a stair (ay)
Choir (warm): Ooh—
Lead: Keys plant seeds in the dark, they grow a thornless prayer
Production cue: (strings swell into crash at the end)
Lead: Take me back, don't let the night keep my name
Choir (breathy): Take me back, pull me up from the pain
[Chorus B - Lead Only (intimate, quieter), then build]
Lead (alone, intimate): Take me back—
Lead (soft): From the dark—
Lead (melodic): Can't these demons hold me down? (bare 808, reverb on voice)
Ad-libs: (yeah) (no) (hold me)
[Post-Chorus - Choir returns, layering]
Choir (enters on 2 & 4, harmonies widen): Take me ba
