Beneath the Ivory Keys
I play myself in keys you’ll never hear
A broken scale buried in the sound
Every note slips, but it’s honest here
I hit them hard so I don’t come unwound
The bench digs in like a spine of doubt
Hands keep moving, I’m fading out
Thoughts drag slow like a breath held tight
Wrong notes ringing just sound right
Beneath the ivory, a low hum stays
A weight that follows through my veins
It knows my name, it knows my sins
It waits for me where silence bends
Can you hear it now
this quiet song?
Beneath the ivory keys,
I’ve prayed too long
Every wrong chord feels the same
I press the keys just to bleed the pain
Oh this pain
Still remains
Still remains - (in me)
Thoughts dive fast then crawl back up
A crown of noise where silence cuts
Imagination—an awful place
Still I follow, still I chase
Chasing the dragon, chasing my tail
Every key locked in a minor scale
I stand upright as gravity wins
The floor forgets my feet again
And I’m falling
Yeah I’m falling again
I’m falling
Through the pain
This fractured room feels just like home
These are the truths I own alone
All these thoughts, they come and go
Why won’t they leave me alone?
Leave me alone
Leave me alone
When I’m alone
Beneath the ivory, I stall inside
Every flaw I wear with pride
Scars don’t heal, they just explain
Who I blame
it's Me again
Can you hear it now—haunted sound?
Beneath the ivory keys, it circles round
Every wrong note calls your name
I press the keys—nothing’s changed.
The monster in me
Won’t let me be
Nothing’s changed
It sounds the same
I press the keys and still in pain.
Your face appears, the room caves in
Ash falls slow—no way to win
Dust just hanging in dead air
Going nowhere, empty stare
Walls I climb don’t touch the sky
Melodies thin where harmonies die
Charcoal teeth, bloodshot eyes
A crowded head of borrowed lies
Beneath the ivory keys
The damage sleeps, just in me
The beast still breathes
Each note frays what’s left within
Stars ask why what’s left is sin
Lullaby to an empty sky
Guess it’s time to say goodbye
Can you hear me now—this broken song?
Beneath the ivory keys, I don’t belong
When I call your name, it echoes back
Melodies bleed through keys of black
It won’t be long
It’s meant to be
but it’s still wrong
guess I'm still me.
I’ll survive—I’m still alive
Eyes wired open, out of time
Still breathing under broken rhyme
Broken hands play broken times
I won’t erase the scars I know
Beneath the ivory keys—this is my hell
Where my demons dwell
Cracks keep rhythm, pain keeps score
Till it loosens me once more
If I fade beneath the wave
One day I might be saved
Might be saved
Or not
or just forgot ....
lyrics written by Malcolm Gladwin
copyright
2026
all Rights Reserved
https://m.soundcloud.com/malcolm-gladwin-226585577/beneath-the-ivory-keys