Concrete Systole

Verse

Valve cracks open under the curb

Pressure climbs where the pipe bends

Iron lung beneath the avenue

Fills the dark, then empties again

Gauge needle jumps to red and back

Steel drum shudders, floor plates ring

Every block waits for the next release

Concrete flexes with the swing

Pre-Chorus

Fill the line, hold the beat

Who decides when the city breathes

Chorus

Concrete systole, pressure through the vein

Concrete systole, rising, drops again

Concrete systole, pulse beneath the street

Concrete systole, we move to what we can't see

Verse

Manifold hisses behind the wall

Copper joints keep the count in time

Pump house shakes on the half beat down

Sends the surge up the risen line

Sidewalk grate breathes a heavy sigh

Vapor climbs where the pistons meet

Nobody sees the chamber below

But everybody moves to the beat

Pre-Chorus

Fill the line, hold the beat

Who decides when the city breathes

Chorus

Concrete systole, pressure through the vein

Concrete systole, rising, drops again

Concrete systole, pulse beneath the street

Concrete systole, we move to what we can't see

Bridge

Valve open

Valve shut

Pressure up

Pressure cut

Line full

Line bare

City breathes

We're the air

Chorus

Concrete systole, pressure through the vein

Concrete systole, rising, drops again

Concrete systole, pulse beneath the street

Concrete systole, we move to what we can't see