Villain In My Own Story

[Intro]
[male, low]
I keep the door locked
Chains on the frame
Name burned out
Face in the flame
[female, soft]
You say you're fine
I feel that quake
Whole sky trembles
With every breath you take
[Verse 1]
[male]
There’s a cage in my chest with a bent-old lock
Teeth on the bars just counting the clocks
If I ever let it out, it won’t just talk
It’ll walk through the globe like a parking lot
Every scar on my fist? That’s a warning sign
Every thought that I hide got a blade inside
People pray I’ll be “good,” I just play that part
But I tuck whole cities in the back of my heart
[female]
I see you staring at the floorboards
Like something’s trying to climb through
You call it “stress,” call it “long days”
But I know that thing knows me too
You say, “I’d burn it all, don’t tempt me”
Quiet voice, but the walls bend gently
I can hear that beast breathe heavy in your story
And every time you flinch, it’s hungry
[Chorus]
[male]
I’m the villain in my own story
Crown made of ash, hands all gory
If I crack, if I snap, if I ever let it roar
I could drag this whole world to the floor
[female]
So I stand at your chest like a watchtower
Holding back that tide, hour after hour
You say you’re saving them, but you won’t save you
‘Cause the villain in your story is the only truth
[Verse 2]
[male]
I don’t fear monsters, I bite my tongue
‘Cause I know where they learn what they’ve become
They studied me, shadow on the bedroom wall
Every “what if” bigger than a wrecking ball
I could curse a man’s name ‘til his roots turn dust
Smile at a queen ‘til her throne turns rust
It’s a quiet kind of power, tucked under my skin
Like a match in a forest full of summer-dry limbs
[female]
You laugh like, “Relax, I’m just talkin’”
But the ground cracks anywhere you’re walkin’
Your mercy’s a mask that you glued too tight
Over eyes that flash like a power line’s light
I’ve seen you in the mirror at 3 a.m.
Arguin’ with ghosts just to cage that thing
Sayin’, “If I let go, it’s the last sunrise”
You’d trade the whole world just to silence your mind
[Chorus]
[male]
I’m the villain in my own story
Crown made of ash, hands all gory
If I crack, if I snap, if I ever let it roar
I could drag this whole world to the floor
[female]
So I stand at your chest like a watchtower
Holding back that tide, hour after hour
You say you’re saving them, but you won’t save you
‘Cause the villain in your story is the only truth
[Bridge]
[call-and-response]
[male]
Don’t trust my calm (don’t trust your calm)
It’s the quiet ones that fall (you’re close to the fall)
One loose word, I black out the sun
And I’ll swear I was just “having fun”
[female]
You’re not a hero, you’re not that doom
You’re a person in a locked-up room
But you love that fear like a favorite scar
‘Cause if you’re the villain, you can’t fall as hard
[male]
Nah, I’m the curse they can’t shake off (yeah)
Whole map quake when my rage coughs
If I ever let it out, no way back in
So I’ll chain myself and call that “win”
[Chorus]
[male]
I’m the villain in my own story
Crown made of ash, hands all gory
If I crack, if I snap, if I ever let it roar
I could drag this whole world to the floor
[female]
So I stand at your chest like a watchtower
Holding back that tide, hour after hour
You say you’re saving them, but you won’t save you
‘Cause the villain in your story is the only truth

rap, Dark cinematic hip-hop duet with male and female vocals; sparse piano over brooding sub-bass, trap hats flickering in the distance. Verses stay almost whispered then bloom into layered, distorted hooks. Call-and-response sections, eerie reversed vocal chops in the breaks, last chorus drenched in reverb as drums thin out and the voices feel dangerously close., world, hip hop, slow