Slow Fade to Gold

Verse

Four a.m., the space heater humming like it's keeping time

Cracked knuckles on the keyboard, every bar a broken rhyme

Landlord slid a notice, I slid rent from the studio

Sold my old console just to pay the man for one more show

Cousin said the odds are stacked, I said stack them higher then

Every no's a brick I lay, building something I ascend

Momma prayed in kitchens while I prayed in basements too

Same god, different altar, still the vision coming through

Broke phone screen, cracked but working, still I write the hook at dawn

Every setback just a setup, watch me turn it into song

Pre-Chorus

How many nights I told myself just hold the line

How many doubts I buried underneath the grind

Somebody tell me when the rust turns into shine

I already know, I already know

Chorus

Slow fade to gold, watch the dust turn bright

Every hour spent is an hour I'm right

Copper turning gold under low streetlight

Slow fade to gold, I already know

Verse

Studio's a closet, mic hung up with rusted wire

Neighbors banging on the wall, I turn it up higher

They said quit at twenty, said the window's closing fast

I said windows don't close on foundations built to last

Uncle called it foolish, said go find a normal shift

I said watch me turn the struggle into something I can lift

Every dollar that comes in gets planted, not spent

Every hour that I grind is an hour that's well spent

Cracked mirror in the hallway still reflects the same old fire

Started in the basement, now the ceiling climbing higher

Pre-Chorus

How many nights I told myself just hold the line

How many doubts I buried underneath the grind

Somebody tell me when the rust turns into shine

I already know, I already know

Chorus

Slow fade to gold, watch the dust turn bright

Every hour spent is an hour I'm right

Copper turning gold under low streetlight

Slow fade to gold, I already know

Bridge

Ain't no overnight, ain't no shortcut through

Every layer strips away till what's left is true

Used to chase the shine, now I chase the work

Turns out that's the secret that was buried in the dirt

I ain't waiting for the world to see it first

Chorus

Slow fade to gold, watch the dust turn bright

Every hour spent is an hour I'm right

Copper turning gold under low streetlight

Slow fade to gold, I already know