Paper Chains

Verse
Alarm clock rings like a firing squad,
Dragging me out to the concrete god.
Tie on the mask, paint the paycheck grin,
Hide the firestorm burning within.
Cubicle walls like padded cells,
Dreams taped up on the bottom shelf.
I hum melodies into stale coffee steam,
Hoping someone hears the ghost of a dream.

Pre-Chorus
But the fluorescent lights keep humming,
And the deadlines keep on drumming…

Chorus
I’m sketching my soul on these paper chains,
Trading my colours for corporate grey.
My heart keeps whispering, “run away,”
But the world keeps saying, “you need to stay.”
And every day I lose a little more
Of the wild-eyed child I was before.
My spirit cries out, but no one hears—
I’ve been grinding down for years.

Verse
I once saw art in the cracks of the street,
Now I just stare at my aching feet.
Drafting reports instead of songs,
Pretending I fit where I don’t belong.
My hands were made to build worlds of light,
Now they type in the dark of a sleepless night.
The canvas waits, but the hours are sold—
And little by little, my fire grows cold.

Pre-Chorus
And the days feel all the same,
Just a loop with a different name…

Chorus
I’m sketching my soul on these paper chains,
Trading my colours for corporate grey.
My heart keeps whispering, “run away,”
But the world keeps saying, “you need to stay.”
And every day I lose a little more
Of the wild-eyed child I was before.
My spirit cries out, but no one hears
I’ve been grinding down for years.

Bridge
Then one day I saw myself reflected
In an office window, old, disconnected.
Lines on my face I don’t remember earning,
Eyes gone quiet from a lifetime of yearning.
No masterpiece, no legacy drawn,
Just a name on a plaque that they’ll soon take off.
A ghost in the break room, a chair pushed aside
The artist inside me already died.

Chorus
I sold my soul for these paper chains,
And now I fade into corporate grey.
No voice left to whisper “run away,”
Just silence where the music used to play.
I gave everything for something small
Now I stand alone in the endless hall.
Discarded, forgotten, I wait for the end…
A life undone I can’t defend.