GRID VOLTAGE

[Verse 1]
The August heat baked the posters on the Flatbush DIAL-A-RIDE,
I'm tracing the memory, the pattern we tied.
The air thick as diesel from the B41's last crawl,
We shared a bottle of water by the handball court wall.
You were mapping the future on a fogged-up pane of glass,
Said my father's dream for me was built too slow to last.
We never saw the flicker, the pressure drop, the strain,
Just the weight of the humidity that felt just like the rain.

[Chorus]
I still see the shimmer, the last good light on your face,
Before the whole grid went down, left the quiet in its place.
Yeah, the last good light, before the wires went cold,
And I had to unspool the quiet to find the story you sold.

[Verse 2]
4 AM now, the hum from the freezer aisle is low,
I'm stacking the yogurts, putting on a hollow show.
Remember you took that call, by the payphone on the block?
Turned your back to me, watched the second hand on your watch.
'Five more minutes,' you whispered, 'swear the world can wait.'
But your shadow was already walking straight out the gate.
It's a knot in the fabric, a snag I can't un-sew,
The part of the story I pretend I didn't know.

[Chorus]
I still see the shimmer, the last good light on your face,
Before the whole grid went down, left the quiet in its place.
Yeah, the last good light, before the wires went cold,
And I had to unspool the quiet to find the story you sold.

[Bridge]
This ain't a mask for the street, this the one that I wear for me.
To look at that day and see only the loyalty.
But the current was already failing, the circuit was fried,
You just needed the darkness to show me the thread of that lie.

[Instrumental Break]
(No vocals for 20 seconds)

[Outro]
Just the buzz of the ballast, the chill on the tile floor.
Yeah, the whole damn city went dark. I don't see you anymore.