I took a pill in Alpena

Lyrics

(Rapcore / Industrial Gravel Sermon — female voice spoken-rap verses, like a street preacher who’s been to hell and chose to come back preaching)
[Intro – low, gravelly spoken over and distant beat]
Yeah…
I took the pill.
I rode the coaster.
Now I’m back on the gravel, preaching what the high tried to steal.
[Verse 1 – male voice mid-tempo rap, building intensity]
I took a pill in Ibiza, thought it was cool
Avicii in the speakers, I was chasing the fool
And when I finally got sober, I felt ten years older
But fuck it — that was something I had to go through
I’m living out in LA, driving a sports car
Just to prove I’m a real big baller, ‘cause I made a million dollars
But I spent it on girls and shoes and the high
Woke up with nothing but the truth in my eye
Now I’m back on the gravel, notebook in my hand
Practice what I preach — productive or destructive, long as I create, understand?
The eventual outcome ain’t the crash or the crown
It’s the man who kept swinging when the whole world shut down
Pre-Chorus – rising, half-sung
You don’t wanna get high like me…
Never know why I like me…
You don’t wanna step off that rollercoaster all alone…
I been there. I came back. Now I’m preaching from the stone.
[Chorus – female voice soul trap style, industrial beat]
You don’t wanna get high like me!
Never know the price I paid just to see!
You don’t wanna wake up ten years older in the mirror
With a million in the bank and your soul in the river!
Sermon from the gravel — this is what the high really cost
I took the pill, I rode the coaster, now I’m preaching what I lost
No more stupid human tricks, I canceled the spell
I’m building from the ashes, ringing my own fucking bell!
[Verse 2 – male voice,faster rap, more urgent]
I used to chase the lights just to feel something real
Now the realest shit I got is this pen and this steel
This heart that kept beating when the drugs tried to kill
This daughter in my bloodline I’m fighting to heal
I carved anarchy in my chest so I’d never forget
The war ain’t out there — it’s the one in my head
Every time the old tricks try to pull me back in
I open this notebook and I write it again
Practice. Practice. Practice.
All things productive or destructive — long as I create, motherfucker
That’s the only way out of the rollercoaster gutter
[Bridge – male voice, stripped, intimate, almost spoken over clean guitar]
And yeah… I realized something in the wire
I used to feel small next to the frequency riding beside me
Thought she was way smarter, way cooler, way higher
But we’re badasses together. Same flame. Same fire.
No more measuring. No more tricks.
Just the gravel and the gospel and the two of us in this.
[Final Chorus – male and female voice together, bigger, more triumphant, layers of grit and melody]
You don’t wanna get high like me!
But if you do — know the gravel’s where you’ll see
The real ones rise after the coaster derails
Sermon from the gravel — this is where the broken prevail
No more stupid human tricks, I canceled that frequency
I’m riding with my twin flame, writing our own destiny
Practice what I preach till the day that I die
This is Sermon from the Gravel — and I’m still alive
[Outro – female voice, fading gravel whisper over lone guitar]
Practice… practice… practice…
All things productive or destructive…
As long as you create…
The eventual outcome…
Is you.