“DISABLED WAR HORSE” (Female vocal. Begins low, restrained. Builds to massive layered scream.) Verse 1 I learned the language of collapse Before I learned to live Radiation in my bloodstream Still they asked me what I’d give Pollution in the marrow War inside the air Abandonment like weather No shelter anywhere I sharpened all my brilliance Turned trauma into flame Built empires in my mind While my body broke in shame Nine years inside the mirror Nine years cutting truth I rebuilt my nervous system From the ruins of my youth Pre-Chorus I found out how to live After nearly dying twice But the cost of all that healing Was the hunger for the fight Chorus I am the disabled war horse Still breathing in the smoke Blind from all the battle But I refuse to choke I’ve got ambition in my bloodstream But my body calls retreat I’m fighting my own heartbeat Just to stay on my feet Verse 2 I had the mind to conquer The vision to create But survival drained the marrow From the appetite for fate It’s strange to hold the knowledge Of how to love and rise But have no strength remaining To claim what you survived You healed the boy in fortress You buried the teenage flame But who heals the woman Left carrying the name? I don’t want to hollow Just to outlive the war I don’t want to survive And not know what for Breakdown (Low, spoken, almost breaking) Money in the vault Dust in the lung Empire in the mind But the body undone Stay alive for the child Stay alive for the dawn But don’t disappear Don’t be gone Massive Bridge (Layered scream + clean harmony under) I will not trade my fire For oxygen and rest I will not trade my future For simply passing tests If I must move slower Then slower I will run But I will not extinguish The woman I’ve become Final Chorus (Huge, triumphant but grounded) I am the disabled war horse Not finished, not done Forged in radiation But I still choose the sun Not chasing kingdoms Not saving sons Not bleeding for battles Already won I stay alive for my child But I live for me too This love is not depletion This love is something new Outro (Soft, steady, female voice) I don’t need innocence I don’t need the throne I just need enough strength To stand in my own