Valknut Economics (version 2)

Intro

Rope in the rafters, three knots tied tight

Coach says the first one's free, the rest get paid in blood

Verse

Basement on Larkspur, chalk dust in the light

Ring made of extension cords, canvas gone gray

Coach ties a knot for every fighter that falls

First loss teaches humble, second teaches wait

Third one seals the deal, cinches like a vow

Say the name gets heavy once the rope's let out

Watched my brother earn his knots back in seventy-one

Traded teeth for a title that nobody won

Kept that rope under the mattress like a will

Said the price of a legend's what you're willing to spill

Pre-Chorus

How many knots before the story sticks

How much of yourself you gotta lose to get the fix

Chorus

Three knots, one name, that's the going rate

Pay it in blood, they still remember the weight

Ain't no discount on the debt that you owe

Tie the last knot, watch the legend grow

Verse

Now I'm the one tying knots in that same basement light

Kid named Ellis took his first loss last night

Cried in the corner, said he wasn't built for this

I told him losing's just the interest on the risk

Every scar's a receipt for a lesson paid in full

My father's rope wore thin down to a nub

Twelve knots deep before his hands went numb

Died with that rope still knotted in his palm

Left me the debt and left me strangely calm

Pre-Chorus

How many knots before the story sticks

How much of yourself you gotta lose to get the fix

Chorus

Three knots, one name, that's the going rate

Pay it in blood, they still remember the weight

Ain't no discount on the debt that you owe

Tie the last knot, watch the legend grow

Bridge

I stopped counting knots when I started counting years

Learned the rope was never about the score

It's for holding on when everything disappears

The name ain't free, but the rope remembers more

Chorus

Three knots, one name, that's the going rate

Pay it in blood, they still remember the weight

Ain't no discount on the debt that you owe

Tie the last knot, watch the legend grow