No Mercy for the Weak

(Distorted haunting piano loop fades in with heavy tape hiss. Distant police sirens layered under deep, pulsating sub-bass.) Yeah. You lookin' for an exit? There ain't no exits in this maze. Just concrete, steel, and shadows that breathe. Keep your head down. Keep your piece close.

I’m walkin' through the valley where the streetlights flicker out, a place where brothers doubt the brothers that they talk about. The pavement is a graveyard for the ones who showed a heart, they tore 'em all apart before the sunlight even start. I’m feelin' paranoid, every shadow looks like a ghost, toast to the ones who paid the price to be the coast-to-coast kings of the gutter, stutterin' bullets from the barrel, life is narrow like the eye of a needle in this apparel. We trade our souls for a grip of the green, the meanest machine you ever seen, keepin' it clean while the mess is all around us. The feds surround us, bound to the cycle of the strife, sacrifice your life just to say you survived the night. No mercy for the weak, that’s the law of the land, keep your pistol in your hand, never fold, never stand for the weak-hearted, departed souls are driftin' like smoke, the weight of the yoke is heavy, breakin' every spine that try to rise up, look into the skies, I see the lies, I see the demise of the guys who thought they could play nice. It’s a dice game, rollin' snake eyes every single time, commit the crime, serve the time, lose your mind in the grind.

No mercy for the weak, keep your steel in the dark, aim for the heart, leave a permanent mark. If you blink, you sink, if you weep, you sleep, in the concrete depths where the secrets are deep. Yeah, no mercy for the weak. (No mercy, no pity, just the heat of the city.)

I’m movin' through the trenches with the vengeance in my veins, breakin' all the chains, mental rains washin' away the sanity, vanity is the enemy, we claim the territory, rewrite the history, make it a mystery how we stay alive when the bullets fly like rain from a storm cloud. I’m loud when I need to be, silent when I creep, keep my watch while the city’s fast asleep. You see the reaper knockin' at the door? Don’t ask what he’s lookin' for, he’s lookin' for the blood on the floor, the floorboards creek, the weak-minded seek a savior but the savior’s long gone, only dawn brings the pain of another day of huntin' for the prey. I don’t pray to the gods of the light, I pray to the shadows of the night, keep my vision tight, keep my weapon bright. The street is a furnace, burnin' the bridges I built, covered in guilt, tilted in a kilt of shadows, follow the path of the hollow-point trajectory, factory of misery, we’re all just casualties in the making, heart is aching but I’m faking the smile while I’m shaking the dial, lookin' for a way to stay relevant in this element.

They tell you walk the straight path, but the path is full of glass, shards of the past, blast from the muzzle of a snub-nose, everyone knows the way it goes, you lose the clothes off your back before you even get a chance to stack. I pack the heat like a secret I can’t tell, living in a cell made of brick and mortar, water to the slaughter, my daughter asks why the world is so cold, I tell her stories of old, of soldiers who were bold enough to never bow down. But look around, they’re all underground, crownless kings of the concrete ruins, brewing the next disaster, moving faster than the master could ever track. Back in the day, we had a way of handling business, now it’s just witness the sickness spreadin' like a virus, pyre is burning in the distance, persistence is the only key, but even then you’re bound to be a casualty.

Can you feel the pressure? It’s crushing the air out of your lungs. No room for tears. No room for fears. Just the metallic taste of lead. Swallow it down. Swallow it down.

So tell me what you’re worth when the lights fade out, when you’re lookin' at the barrel with a shadow of a doubt. I’m the manifestation of the frustration, the nation of the forgotten, rotten to the core, wanting more than just a piece of the pie, I want the whole damn sky, but I’ll settle for the streets where I keep my piece. Peace is a luxury I can’t afford, I’m a servant to the sword, ignored by the ones in the towers, devouring the hours of our life. It’s a strife-filled reality, mentality of a wolf in the pack, never look back, stay on track, keep the rack full of rounds, leave no sounds when we move, prove that we’re the ones to survive, keep the drive alive, dive into the abyss, never miss, kiss the pavement goodbye, I’m the guy who’s gonna rise while you die.

No mercy. None at all. It’s written in the concrete. The theology of the streets. You learn it or you burn in it. We stay on the move. Yeah. (Fading beat with static and distant siren loops.)