Aura of Ruin - Concrete Veins

(Verse 1) Static screams through the rusted-out gates Of a valley we used to own. Every face was an open book, Every porch was a second home. Midnight running on asphalt heat, Laughter bleeding into the night. We swore this dirt would never wash away, We swore we'd never lose the fight. (Pre-Chorus) But the gears keep grinding. The clock keeps stripping the gears. Silently drowning, In the wake of the passing years. (Chorus) Where did the sanctuary go? Buried under corporate stone! The names we carved are choking in the dust, And the iron kingdom turned to rust! I walk the pavement but the ghosts are gone, A bloodless crowd in a frozen dawn. I don't know you! You don't know me! This isn't where we used to be! (Verse 2) The old arcade is a hollow shell, The brickyard is fenced and cold. My brothers-in-arms got scattered to the wind, Bought out, broken, and sold. We drifted out on separate tides, No final words, just a slow decay. Now I'm staring at a faceless grid, And the past is a million miles away. (Pre-Chorus) The gears keep grinding. The clock keeps stripping the gears. Chasing the shadows, Through a monolith built on tears. (Chorus) Where did the sanctuary go? Buried under corporate stone! The names we carved are choking in the dust, And the iron kingdom turned to rust! I walk the pavement but the ghosts are gone, A bloodless crowd in a frozen dawn. I don't know you! You don't know me! This isn't where we used to be! (Guitar Solo / Breakdown) Deconstruct! Erase the past! Nothing built here was made to last! Look at the eyes of the living dead! A stranger's town in a stranger's head! Go! (Bridge) I screamed your name at the flashing lights, But the traffic drowned it out. A city swallowed up my childhood home, And left me here to doubt. Are you still out there? Or did you fade away too? (Chorus) Where did the sanctuary go? Buried under corporate stone! The names we carved are choking in the dust, And the iron kingdom turned to rust! I walk the pavement but the ghosts are gone, A bloodless crowd in a frozen dawn. I don't know you! You don't know me! This isn't where we used to be! (Outro) Nothing remains. Just concrete veins. A city of ghosts. And I'm the stranger now. Fade to black.