# ASHES IN MY LUNGS

# ASHES IN MY LUNGS

[Intro — 0:00–0:20]
*Distant clean guitar, rain-like ambience, faint amplifier hum*

(Whispered, almost breaking)

I hear the ghosts beneath the floor...
I don't feel anything anymore.

*Pause. A single distorted guitar note rings out.*

But I'm still here.

[Verse 1 — restrained, intimate raspy vocals]

I've been sleeping with the lights out,
I've been choking on the truth,
Got a thousand little reasons
For the things I didn't do.

There's a shadow in the mirror
Wearing everything I hate,
And I've spent my whole damn lifetime
Trying to outrun my fate.

[Pre-Chorus — bass enters, drums building]

And every scar's a story
That I never got to tell,
I've been living like a prisoner
In a private kind of hell.

But there's a heartbeat in the wreckage,
There's a fire underneath—
If the world wants me to disappear,
It's gonna have to bury me.

[Chorus — explosive full-band entrance]

I'M STILL ALIVE IN THE ASHES!
STILL GOT BLOOD IN MY VEINS!
You can bury me in darkness,
I will claw my way through the pain!

LET THE WHOLE WORLD WATCH ME BURN!
LET THE SKY COME CRASHING DOWN!
You can take everything I ever was—
BUT YOU CAN'T KEEP ME DOWN!

[Post-Chorus — gang vocals, ringing guitars]

You can't keep me down!
*You can't keep me down!*

[Verse 2 — driving drums, gritty guitar riff]

Now the silence sounds like thunder,
Now the fear has got a face,
I've been running from the wreckage
When I should've owned the flames.

Every door they slammed before me
Made a weapon of the sound,
Now I'm done with asking permission—
I'm the one who won't back down.

[Pre-Chorus 2 — bigger drums, rising vocal intensity]

Every scar becomes a warning,
Every failure feeds the flame,
If there's nothing left worth saving,
Then there's nothing left to chain!

Hear the heartbeat in the wreckage!
Feel the ground begin to shake!
If this is where the story ends,
THEN I'LL TEAR THE PAGE AWAY!

[Chorus 2 — bigger, layered backing vocals]

I'M STILL ALIVE IN THE ASHES!
STILL GOT BLOOD IN MY VEINS!
You can bury me in darkness,
I will claw my way through the pain!

LET THE WHOLE WORLD WATCH ME BURN!
LET THE SKY COME CRASHING DOWN!
You can take everything I ever was—
BUT YOU CAN'T KEEP ME DOWN!

[Bridge — sudden drop to clean guitar and vulnerable vocals]

And if tomorrow never finds me,
If I fall before the dawn,
At least I'll know I stood here fighting,
At least I'll know I carried on.

*Drums begin quietly, like a distant heartbeat.*

I was never made of stone...
I was terrified alone...

*Voice cracks; instruments rise.*

BUT I'M NOT DONE!
NO, I'M NOT DONE!

[Breakdown — heavy guitars, pounding half-time drums]

I'VE HIT THE FLOOR!
I'VE LOST MY WAY!
I'VE WATCHED MY BETTER YEARS DECAY!

BUT EVERY TIME THEY COUNT ME OUT—
I FIND ANOTHER REASON TO SCREAM IT LOUD!

I AM NOT YOUR CASUALTY!
I AM NOT MY HISTORY!
ALL THE HELL THAT CAME FOR ME—
MADE THE THING I WAS MEANT TO BE!

[Final Chorus — maximum energy, double-tracked vocals, gang shouts]

I'M STILL ALIVE IN THE ASHES!
NOW I'M BREAKING THESE CHAINS!
I WAS BORN INSIDE THE DARKNESS—
NOW I'M LIGHTING UP THE FLAMES!

LET THE WHOLE WORLD WATCH ME BURN!
LET THE SKY COME CRASHING DOWN!
YOU CAN TAKE EVERYTHING I EVER WAS—

BUT YOU CAN'T!
KEEP!
ME!
DOWN!

[Outro — triumphant, full band]

*Gang vocals over huge ringing power chords*

STILL ALIVE!
STILL ALIVE!

*Final shouted line*

I'M STILL HERE!

*Massive final chord, cymbal crash, amplifier feedback slowly fading into silence.*