Mm
Still here
Still warm

Cold room, dim blue, rain on the cinderblock
Half-lit, half-gone, thumb on the broken lock
Smoke curl, slow swirl, dust on the windowsill
I learned the hard way what burns and what never will

Black shirt, old hurt, ash in the coat seam
Cut sleep, cracked teeth, weight in a half-dream
No crowd, no sound, just the pipework talking
When the fire dies down, that’s when the truth starts walking

No shine left
No disguise
What stays real
Survives the night

Ashes stay honest
Ashes stay honest
When the flame goes low, what’s left won’t lie
Ashes stay honest

No gold on the wound, no clean rewrite
Just the smoke in my chest and the heat I hide
When the room gets bare, I can’t run from mine
Ashes stay honest

Late hour, dead wire, hum in the hallway
Long scar, shut jaw, still I don’t fold away
Slow hands, burnt plans, names in the plaster
I kept the worst parts, somehow they built me stronger

Thin light, steel pipe, stain where the sparks fell
One chair, one stare, one hell of a hard sell
No myth, no trick, no halo to lean on
I got what remained when the mercy was long gone

No shine left
No disguise
What stays real
Survives the night

Ashes stay honest
Ashes stay honest
When the flame goes low, what’s left won’t lie
Ashes stay honest

No gold on the wound, no clean rewrite
Just the smoke in my chest and the heat I hide
When the room gets bare, I can’t run from mine
Ashes stay honest

I don’t need the blaze
To know what survived
I can read my soul
By what the fire left behind

Let it cool
Let it show
Every mark I never spoke
No parade
No disguise
Just the truth behind my eyes

Ashes stay honest
Ashes stay honest
When the flame goes low, what’s left won’t lie
Ashes stay honest

No gold on the wound, no clean rewrite
Just the smoke in my chest and the heat I hide
When the room gets bare, I can’t run from mine
Ashes stay honest

Stay honest
Stay honest
Ashes