Ash and Amber Skin (Version 2)

Verse

Oil drum burning on the corner lot

Sparks like fireflies over the parking lot

Smoke curls up where the horn section blows

Embers landing soft on my collarbone

Old men circle with their hands out wide

Teaching rhythm that they never let die

Ash on my ankles, amber on my skin

Fire remembers where the dance begins

Pre-Chorus

Can you feel the heat come closer

Pulling shadows off the ground

Every spark that lifts and settles

Knows the shape of every sound

Chorus

Ash and amber skin, we burn and we rise

Ash and amber skin, catching the sky

Ash and amber skin, the drum never dies

Ash and amber skin, we dance til sunrise

Verse

Corner store shutters painted rust and red

Grandmother's proverbs living in my head

Flames throw shadows tall against the wall

Every ember falling answers every call

Taxi rank quiet now the night is deep

Fire keeps the corner warm while the city sleeps

My shoulders drop low where the bassline hums

Ash on my palms like the hands that came before

Pre-Chorus

Can you feel the heat come closer

Pulling shadows off the ground

Every spark that lifts and settles

Knows the shape of every sound

Chorus

Ash and amber skin, we burn and we rise

Ash and amber skin, catching the sky

Ash and amber skin, the drum never dies

Ash and amber skin, we dance til sunrise

Bridge

I carry the coal in my chest

Every fire my people have blessed

Skin holds the smoke like a name

Passed through the dance, through the flame

Chorus

Ash and amber skin, we burn and we rise

Ash and amber skin, catching the sky

Ash and amber skin, the drum never dies

Ash and amber skin, we dance til sunrise