Chosen in the Chaos (Version 2)

Verse

Corner store window, cracked like glass

Same four faces every day that pass

Copper light on a half-empty cup

Radio hiss where the static's enough

Bare hands gripping a rusty rail

Watching winter eat the last of fall

Nobody's talking but everyone's watching

Static hums beneath my skin and clutching

I got a letter folded in a wallet thin

Mama's handwriting, postmark from within

I keep it close like it might still talk

Same four shadows walking to the block

Pre-Chorus

Something's breaking open under my skin

Every heartbeat is the only signal I'm given to start again

Chorus

So raise your hands up in this dirty light

Let the whole damn town ignite tonight

I was chosen in the chaos, not by name

This is where the anthem finally got its flame

Verse

Snowplow rumble turning gravel gray

Old woman's shadow moving slow to pray

Same four corners but it feels like more

Something's burning on the other side of the door

Radio crackles out a song I know

Voices layered over static snow

I'm not waiting for a different sky

This is where I'll learn how to fly

Pre-Chorus

Something's breaking open under my skin

Every heartbeat is the only signal I'm given to start again

Chorus

So raise your hands up in this dirty light

Let the whole damn town ignite tonight

I was chosen in the chaos, not by name

This is where the anthem finally got its flame

Bridge

Maybe it's the cold that wakes me up

Maybe it's the noise and I don't stop

Something's rising off this cracked-up street

It ain't pride, just whatever's left to believe

No names on a flag but we still stand tall

This is our anthem, loud as the fall

I'm not waiting for a better place

I was chosen here in the broken space

Chorus

So raise your hands up in this dirty light

Let the whole damn town ignite tonight

I was chosen in the chaos, not by name

This is where the anthem finally got its flame