Warrior's Resolve (version 2)

Verse

Concrete crack at midnight, headlights throw a glow

Twelve years on the block and I still owe my debt to snow

Mother's words still ringing in my skull like thunder

Every dollar I'm chasing is one more step that thunder

Started with a single bulletproof vest bought off Craigslist

Now the room's filled thick with smoke and it smells like fire and glass

Bullets ricochet off my chain where the nameplate shines

Learned to carry weight before the numbers ever lined up

Fist on my chest keeps a rhythm only I can hear

Same four counts I used back when I was running scared

Now it's different now, now the city trembles every time I step inside the streetlight ring

Chorus

I am the iron in the dark, the shadow that the block won't forget

Every scar I carry is a war medal, every debt I've yet to pay back

Nobody taught me mercy when the pavement started bleeding red

So I keep my eyes wide open and let the fear turn into steel

Verse

Told my younger brother don't you ever look back like that

Life's too short for second guessing or a conscience that cracks

Every bullet I dodged turned to a dollar, turned to gold

Every time the trigger clicked but it was just a hollow story told

Now I walk these streets alone with no more doubt in my stride

Ricochet scars tell me stories other men don't survive

I don't run when the sirens call, I meet them headfirst like a challenge

Forty-five rounds in my clip and every one of 'em got a name attached to it

Chorus

I am the iron in the dark, the shadow that the block won't forget

Every scar I carry is a war medal, every debt I've yet to pay back

Nobody taught me mercy when the pavement started bleeding red

So I keep my eyes wide open and let the fear turn into steel

Bridge

Maybe one day I stop looking over my shoulder

Maybe one day there's no more weight to hold or borrow

But till then, the city stays a war zone that I own

Not scared of dying, just scared of going home empty-handed alone

Chorus

I am the iron in the dark, the shadow that the block won't forget

Every scar I carry is a war medal, every debt I've yet to pay back

Nobody taught me mercy when the pavement started bleeding red

So I keep my eyes wide open and let the fear turn into steel