I Serve Tomorrow

**Intro** A vow in the dust. A light in the throat. (pick scrape) Yeah. **Verse 1** I sleep where the highway forgot my name, under a billboard burned down to bone. Static in the distance, prayer in my teeth, another town that learned to lock its doors. They sell fear by the gallon, saints by the pound, trade truth for a warm place outa the rain. I don’t blame the hungry for begging in rust, I blame the ones who buy their peace with someone’s pain. **Pre-Chorus** So I step into the lantern-glow, hands open, eyes awake, Let the wolf show all its chrome, I’m the line it doesn’t break. **Chorus** I let ’em see me coming, I don’t duck the stares, psi-fire in my palm, bright as a warning flare. I stand where the bullies think nobody’ll stand, I make a shield of my name and a blade of my hand. I’m not your king, I’m not your savior, I’m not your toy, I’m the sign in the smoke that says “leave them alone.” I don’t serve crowns, I serve tomorrow. **Verse 2** Streetlight glinting off a busted sign, bar door yawning like a broken jaw. Two hard men and a soft little laugh, and nobody remembers what courage is for. He’s got a badge made outa borrowed steel, she’s got a bruise she’s hiding with hair. He says “This is how the world works now,” and the room pretends it isn’t there. **Pre-Chorus (shorter)** I feel my temper bite the chain, I taste the easy way, But my hands don’t shake for murder, They shake to make ’em pay. **Chorus** I let ’em see me coming, I don’t duck the stares, psi-fire in my palm, bright as a warning flare. I stand where the bullies think nobody’ll stand, I make a shield of my name and a blade of my hand. I’m not your king, I’m not your savior, I’m not your toy, I’m the sign in the smoke that says “leave them alone.” I don’t serve crowns, I serve tomorrow. **Bridge** It’d be so clean to end him. One bright line through all that smug. No trial, no speeches, just silence where he stood. And part of me wants quiet, wants the lesson to be loud, wants the whole damn wasteland to stop mistaking cruel for proud. But I’ve seen what vengeance builds, I’ve watched it take a face, If I swing for my satisfaction I’m just wearing his disgrace. So I cut the gun from his hand, I cut the lie from the air, I leave him breathing in the wreckage with the weight of what he dared. **Pre-Tag** Look at me. Remember this. I’m not the dark you made. I’m the day that doesn’t blink, I’m the oath you can’t evade. **Chorus 3** I let ’em see me coming, I don’t duck the stares, psi-fire in my palm, bright as a warning flare. I stand where the bullies think nobody’ll stand, I make a shield of my name and a blade of my hand. I carry the light, I don’t let it carry me, I leave a door in the wall where the helpless can breathe. I don’t serve crowns, I serve tomorrow. **Extended Chorus (victory lap, before outro)** I let ’em see me coming, I don’t duck the stares, psi-fire in my palm, bright as a warning flare. I stand where the bullies think nobody’ll stand, I make a shield of my name and a blade of my hand. I’m not your king, I’m not your savior, I’m not your toy, I’m the sign in the smoke that says “leave them alone.” I carry the light, I don’t let it carry me, I leave a door in the wall where the helpless can breathe. Say my name if you need it when the night gets rough, I’ll be there like thunder when “enough is enough.” I don’t serve crowns, I serve tomorrow. **Outro (chant over the main riff, gang vocals)** No crowns… (no crowns) No chains… (no chains) No gods in the gun smoke… I serve tomorrow.