[Intro - Spoken]
Yeah — midnight on the avenue
Red taillight, busted wheel, heartbeat steady
This one’s for the nights we learned to glow
Listen.
[Verse 1]
3 AM, corner-store coffee steaming in a Styrofoam cup
Concrete sermons, I prayed on the curb, knees up
Sticker on the windshield: ‘ride or rise’ — I kept it stuck
Paycheck in my shoes, dreams in my pocket, never enough
Mama’s keys clink like metronomes on the kitchen tile
Neighbors count the echoes of my footsteps down the aisle
Graffiti on the stoop said my name once, one-line smile
I wrote new lines over old scars like cartography of trials
[Pre-Chorus]
Late nights taught me cadence, cold streets taught me bars
Every bruise bookmarked a page, now I’m reading stars
Breath in, count one — hush the doubt, let the truth start
Hands tight on the mic, heart drum, cue the spark
[Chorus - Hook / Chant]
Wear the scars like stars (yeah) — wear the scars like stars (uh)
[Instrumental / Breath Break]
[8-bar beat drop — bass hums, light snare rolls]
[Verse 2]
Studio door with chipped paint, producer said, "You in?"
Old tape recorder, new hunger — I recorded sin to win
Mama held the first single like a secret letter, trembling grin
Neighbors called me by my childhood name, now they say my skin's thin
I sold my first show out at the Hall on Jefferson and Main
My busted taillight still flickers but now it’s lit by fame
A judge once shook his head — now he nods when he clips my name
I turned the potholes to stepping stones, paved lanes from pain
[Pre-Chorus - Variation]
Counting scars by constellation, every line a map of scars
I learned to speak in echoes, now my echo plays guitars
Hands up to the sky, not for luck but so we can charge
Snap the dark like vinyl, drop the needle, here’s the part
[Chorus - Hook / Chant]
Wear the scars like stars (wear ’em, wear ’em) — wear the scars like stars (yeah)
[Bridge]
No more cheap applause for empty talk — I build with bone and bars
Concrete poems in alleyways, phone lights in parked cars
Signature phrase on the corner stoop, scratch it deep in tar
When they ask how we shine, we point, say: wear the scars
[Breakdown - Vocal Tag]
(Wear the scars) — hands to the sky, let the skyline spar
(Wear the scars) — hum the night, flip the script, raise the bar
[Instrumental Solo]
[4-bar piano, 4-bar horn stab, breathing count-in]
[Final Chorus - Hook / Chant x3]
Wear the scars like stars (uh) — wear the scars like stars (yeah)
Wear the scars like stars (come on) — wear the scars like stars
[Outro - Spoken / Singing Blend]
From the corner-store lights to the billboard glow
We stitched the night to a constellation only we know
Keep the taillight cracked, keep the map in your scars
Stand tall, speak true — wear the scars like stars
[Ad-libs / End Tag]
(Wear the scars) — echo out, echo out
(We own who we are) — yeah
[End]
