Folding Steel, Splintered Silk

[Intro]
Palm mute
Breath held
Koto picking like a ticking spell
One note
Thin thread
Tied tight to the back of my neck

[Verse 1]
Jaw clenched in the glow of the screen
Red eyes counting every small defeat
Click
Drag
Cut
Paste
Repeat
I wear my failure like armored teeth
Another plan written in rust
Another vow buried in dust
Still that brittle string in my chest
Keeps humming
Keeps humming

[Chorus]
Folding steel
Splintered silk
I’m carved in halves that never fit
Hard lines
Hairline rifts
I’m breaking open just to shift
Folding steel
Splintered silk
Pull me sharp
Then let me slip
If I tear
I tear to build
Folding steel
Splintered silk

[Verse 2]
You speak in straight lines
Clean and clear
I answer crooked
Full of gear
Every word a jagged tooth
Grinding at the edge of truth
Koto cutting through the grind
Thin wire tracing every fault line
I hear a future in the noise
I hear a choice
I hear a choice

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
[low vocal register]
Knuckles white on a paper crane
Every crease remembers shame
But watch it rise on burning air
Ugly shape
But it’s still there

[spoken
Close to mic]
Say my cracks out loud
Name each fracture proud

[Breakdown]
Left foot
Right foot
On this fault I stand
If it splits tonight
I still lift my hands
Let the chug run wild
Let the string run thin
If the world caves in
I will fold again

[Chorus]