(Verse 1) Streets taught me grammar, concrete wrote the lines, Clock hands run crooked, noon got crooked times. Key in my palm but the door ain't the same, Names flip on the signs, but we still play the game. Lessons in the rearview, not a place to stay, Backwards worlds taught the math, now we count a new way. Home ain't a building, it's the crew and the grind, We move like architects, blueprints in the mind. (Pre-Chorus) Run the block fast, bend the hours with our stride, Hold the breath steady, watch the skyline slide. We stand in the glitch, horizon on the rise, This city is ours now — feel the future in our eyes. (Chorus / Hook) Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Ain't no rewind — we rise, we try, we tower Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Lessons in the past, now we flip 'em into power (Verse 2) Rain hangs like static, glass keeps the beat, We touch what's coming, feel the heat on the street. Fragments on the wire, broken lines that teach, They said chase the shadow — we rewrite the speech. Old ghosts in the alley, they whisper and they fade, We learned from the backwards, then we made our parade. From stoop to skyline, from crack to design, We stitch up the city with a new state of mind. (Pre-Chorus) Run the block fast, bend the hours with our stride, Hold the breath steady, watch the skyline slide. We stand in the glitch, horizon on the rise, This city is ours now — feel the future in our eyes. (Chorus / Hook) Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Ain't no rewind — we rise, we try, we tower Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Lessons in the past, now we flip 'em into power (Verse 3 — Street Sermon) Check the ledger, count the scars, every loss got a lesson, Mama said survive, the block said blessin', not regression. We took the backwards teachings, turned 'em into curriculum, Hustle in the margins, now the margins got a museum. Corner prophets preaching, but we learned to read the code, Turned the cipher into scripture, watch the future unload. No more chasing echoes, we compose the new refrain, From the rubble of the old, we build a higher plane. (Bridge — Spoken / Ride the Beat) Yo — moon on the left, lessons on the right, We lost what we needed to win the next fight. If the door stays shut, we kick a new frame, Backwards worlds were teachers — now we own the name. No nostalgia flex, just a ledger of scars, We cash those lessons in for a map to the stars. (Breakdown — Call and Response) Leader: Forward to ours! Crew: Forward to ours! Leader: Lessons made us! Crew: Lessons made us! Leader: We rise, we try! Crew: We rise, we try! (Verse 4 — Anthemic Lift) See the kids on the stoop with the future in their hands, They learned the old equations, now they rewrite the plans. Graffiti on the overpass reads: "We are the proof," Every broken clock in the city now points to our truth. We trade the backward compass for a compass that points out, Not to where we were, but to what we build about. From subway hum to rooftop drum, the chorus grows loud, We are the architects, we are the crowd. (Pre-Chorus — Lifted) Run the block fast, bend the hours with our stride, Hold the breath steady, watch the skyline slide. We stand in the glitch, horizon on the rise, This city is ours now — feel the future in our eyes. (Chorus / Hook — Extended) Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Ain't no rewind — we rise, we try, we tower Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Lessons in the past, now we flip 'em into power Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) If the road breaks, we build bridges with our power Forward to ours, forward to ours (Forward to ours) Backwards taught the lesson — forward is the hour (Outro — Chant / Fade) Forward to ours — forward to ours — forward to ours (x4) We won't go back, we only go forward (x2) Lessons in the rearview, wisdom in the now, Backwards were the teachers — forward is the vow. (Ad-libs / Tags) "Yeah" / "We move" / "Blueprints" / "Rise up" / "Forward to ours" (repeat and fade)
