Before Twenty-Two

**BEFORE TWENTY-TWO**

 

 

verse 1

 

They talk 'bout twenty-seven like it's a medal, a grave’s bouquet,

 

but my calendar’s burning faster — we don't make the age.

 

Mama prays on kitchen floors, candles whisper names,

 

I count lost friends in cigarette smoke, everybody's flames.

 

Night hums heavy like a verdict, streetlights judge in yellow,

 

we run with hollow pockets and a heart full of fellow sorrow.

 

 

pre-chorus

 

Fame ain't shelter, it's a mirror with a cracked grin,

 

every like, every nod — another reason to give in.

 

They put stars on a wall, put crosses in a line,

 

the shrine’s for those who lasted, but we vanish before the time.

 

 

chorus

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — the clock just laughs,

 

we trade our tomorrows for a fast car and cheap glass.

 

27 Club’s a whisper — we a thunder, we a gun,

 

they build legends on monuments, we finish where they begun.

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — the sirens hum,

 

counting names like body counts, another anthem unsung.

 

 

verse 2

 

Pills like confetti, celebrations for the numb,

 

leave a halo in the hallway where a life can’t run.

 

Love slips out like a ghost, text unread at 2 a.m.,

 

I keep a bottle full of memories and a denim stained hem.

 

Concrete cradle, lullabies in neon blue,

 

we promise forever to the night and forget to push through.

 

 

pre-chorus

 

They teach us to be fighters, then they sell the gloves,

 

we learn to love the danger and we forget how to love.

 

The 27 story’s romantic, the tabloids make it art,

 

but our names get small and silent before we even start.

 

 

chorus

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — the clock just laughs,

 

we trade our tomorrows for a fast car and cheap glass.

 

27 Club’s a whisper — we a thunder, we a gun,

 

they build legends on monuments, we finish where they begun.

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — the sirens hum,

 

counting names like body counts, another anthem unsung.

 

 

bridge (quiet, urgent)

 

Hold your breath, feel it break — you were never meant to leave,

 

I keep whispering the reasons why we should still breathe.

 

Don't let the midnight teach you that your story’s closed,

 

there's a morning in the ashes, and the sun still knows.

 

 

breakdown

 

This for the kids with hollow wallets, heavy minds, closed doors,

 

this for the mothers crying on a floor of borrowed roars.

 

Put your hand on the pulse — it's louder than the gun,

 

we can be legends by surviving, not just poems for someone.

 

 

final chorus (rising)

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — they said it like a curse,

 

but I fight with every shallow breath to flip the verse.

 

27 Club’s a ghost, but I refuse to be the same,

 

I carve my name in daylight, not in headlines or in blame.

 

We ain't making it past twenty-one — they try to crown the young,

 

but if we whisper to each other, maybe we'll see twenty-two come.

 

 

outro (soft)

 

Stay, breathe, hold on till the dawn —

 

don't let the clock write your song.