// ASHES & ECHOES

[Instrument+solo 6bars rotating arp synth thin sub pulse no kick metric illusion] A circle pretending it’s a straight line A lull pretending it’s a cure The room turns slowly Like a planet with a bruise [Refrain 6bars female close mic hypnotic repeat tiny variation each line] I keep coming back Not for peace For the pattern For the pressure For the quiet that won’t quit [Verse 1 14bars male powerful clean metalcore lead rhythmic internal rhyme controlled grit minimal drums] I’m not addicted to the damage, I’m addicted to the drift The way a thought can turn to gravity and make my posture shift I tell myself it’s over, then I orbit it again Like habit wearing perfume, like comfort with a pin I can feel the moment forming, subtle as a tide Not a scream, not a crisis, just a pull I cannot hide I keep a map of every shortcut back to where I lose my nerve Call it fate, call it chemistry, it’s just my appetite for blur And I hate how it feels holy when it’s only neurological A private little eclipse where the wrong thing looks logical [Hook 8bars female airy topline trance lift but restrained catchy] Don’t call it love Call it magnet Call it moonlight on the needle I don’t fall I get folded Into the shape of what is lethal [Pre-Chorus 6bars male intensity rises drums tighten] I don’t need a new disaster I can manufacture one Give me boredom, give me silence And I’ll make it into a gun Not for bodies For the day For the version of me that tries To stay clean in a world that sells Sweet anesthetic lies [Chorus 1 8bars decoy chorus small not full payoff half-time hint but no release] This is hypnosis Soft and precise A velvet undertow With teeth in the ice I blink and I’m back In the same old place Wearing yesterday’s pulse Like it’s my face [Interlude 6bars percussion drops out only arp and sub then sudden hard cut] Cut the sound Keep the pull Let the silence do the work [Verse 2 14bars female commanding but spectral more symbolic imagery] I watched you try to outrun it With discipline and iron breath But the body keeps its weather Even when the mind says yes You don’t relapse in explosions You relapse in little trades In one more glance, one more text One more harmless masquerade You call it closure, call it kindness Call it checking in But it’s a door you keep unlatched For the storm to wander in So say it like a scientist No romance, no disguise You are not weak You are repeating Because repetition hypnotizes [Build-up 8bars both leads alternating lines trance lift rises odd phrase lengths] Name it Trace it Feel it tilt Catch it Before it’s built Break the circle Change the orbit Choose the hard thing Not the cordial [Lead-in 1bar full silence inhale] [Climax 16bars true chorus arrives late full lift plus metal hits sparingly] [Chorus 2 16bars true payoff both leads big hook] This is hypnosis I know the spell It tastes like calm And it drags like hell It isn’t love It’s a loop that feeds On the part of me That forgets what it needs So I cut the current I face the ache I let the empty night Stay awake If I shake, I shake But I don’t return I won’t orbit ruin Just to feel it burn [Outro 8bars fade out first and only brief choir breath stack final 20 to 30 seconds] Breath choir enters softly Stay awake Stay awake Not forever Just tonight The circle breaks When you decide