Smoke in the Playtime

Lyrics

Intro
Hush in the factory
Metal got a heartbeat
Toybox with a bad dream
Somebody let the dark speak

Verse 1
[M] Harley Sawyer
I made the room turn mean, I made the shadows lean
White coat, red glare, got the whole place seen
I watched that green gas bloom in the kid-sized hall
Now your little playtime prayers don’t mean shit at all
I know the doors that lock, I know the lights that die
I know the clip of your steps when you’re tryin’ to hide
I built the lesson hard, made the warning signs clear
When the smile goes slack, best believe I’m near
You call me doctor, but I’m more like the scar
A face in the glass when you thought you’d gone far
Tape deck talk, I left my voice in the walls
Every “help me” you heard was the start of your fall

Pre-Chorus
The train keeps screamin’ through
The hour’s comin’ due
You want the truth? It chews
And it don’t cut loose

Chorus
Smoke in the playtime
Run for your life now
Smoke in the playtime
Hear that steel cry out
Smoke in the playtime
Who’s the monster now?
Smoke in the playtime
Kneel or get torn down

Verse 2
[M] The Prototype
I crawl through the vent cracks, cold in the wire
I wear the machine scars, I wear your fire
You talk big, doctor, but I learned in the crawl
How to move like a curse through the back of the wall
Wires in the dark room, hands in the chute
I take what they leave me, I take what they loot
You made the hunger, now I’m the reply
Every little toy you forgot gets revived
I know the grab-pack swing, the latch and the shove
I know the blue glove reach when the pressure comes up
I know how the floor opens, how the sirens bite
How the maze flips sideways in the dead of night
I am the thing in the system, the leak in the plan
The shape in the static that ruins your stand

Pre-Chorus
You built the cage tight
I learned its weak light
Now every locked gate
Gets crushed by my weight

Chorus
Smoke in the playtime
Run for your life now
Smoke in the playtime
Hear that steel cry out
Smoke in the playtime
Who’s the monster now?
Smoke in the playtime
Kneel or get torn down

Verse 3
[M] Harley Sawyer
You want lore? I’m the reason your fear got legs
You were born in the aftermath, in the broken egg
In the poppy-colored poison, in the factory rot
I fed the whole machine till it bit the lot
Project after project, I kept the line alive
Kept the toys on task while the good men died
You’re just a stitched-together tantrum in the dark
I’m the hand on the switch, I’m the name on the mark

[M] The Prototype
And I’m the answer hiding where the cameras blur
Every corridor knows me, every hinge turns first
You hear that distant clatter? That’s my fucking proof
I’m the thing they couldn’t bury under metal and truth
Mimic in the hallway, body in the brace
Masked little monster with a borrowed face
You trip on your own traps, I slip through clean
I’m the final ugly lesson in the playtime machine

Bridge
half-time
Harley:
You can’t outrun what I made
Prototype:
You can’t outlive what I became
Harley:
The tape still screams my name
Prototype:
Then choke on the shame

Breakdown
distorted chanting
Back up
Back up
Lock it
Break it
Run hard
Run blind
No mercy
No time

Final Chorus
Smoke in the playtime
Run for your life now
Smoke in the playtime
Hear that steel cry out
Smoke in the playtime
Who’s the monster now?
Smoke in the playtime
Kneel or get torn down

Outro
Factory prayer, iron rain
Two kings of ruin in the frame
If you hear us in the dark
Don’t look back
Don’t look back