[Verse]
[Slow 12-bar blues, smoky harmonica, mournful guitar slide]
[Verse]
Moonlight on the kennel yard, shadows long and cold
Purebreds lift their noses high, actin’ mighty bold
They sniff the air like money, like their bloodline paid the rent
While us mutts just chase tomorrow, wonderin’ where it went
[Chorus]
Even here, old divisions linger, cuttin’ deep and raw
Bloodlines carry weight nobody ever asked ‘em for
Sergeant and Feabie, we been carryin’ it so long
That quiet disdain—burnin’ slow like this inescapable hate
[Verse]
They pass us in the run, eyes full of pedigree scorn
Call us “mixed-up trouble,” say our kind was never born
But we got hearts wide open, love that don’t need papers signed
Still they tighten up the noose, keep us low and confined
[Chorus]
Even here, old divisions linger, cuttin’ deep and raw
Bloodlines carry weight nobody ever asked ‘em for
Sergeant and Feabie, we been carryin’ it so long
That quiet disdain—burnin’ slow like this inescapable hate
[Bridge]
(spoken over soft guitar)
Yeah… we been carryin’ it our whole damn lives…
Final Chorus (softer, then swelling)
One day these chains gonna break, watch these old bones rise
Mutts and mixed and faithful hearts beneath these same blue skies
Till then we howl the truth, brothers, sing it loud and strong—
This quiet disdain can’t hold us… in this inescapable hate