Missing Those Days

Now the same streets whisper secrets I don’t wanna hear  

Faces I grew up with turned to strangers in the rear  

Money came in waves but the trust started to drown  

Success got a price tag that can turn smiles to frowns  

I traded handshakes for signatures on dotted lines  

Lost a piece of myself in the glow of the signs  

Late night phone calls turned to missed calls and texts  

Even the victories feel hollow in this new context  

Remember when the biggest worry was who’d hold the ball?  

Now it’s who’s still standing when the empires fall  

I miss the reckless freedom, the fire in our veins  

The nights that felt endless, the joy in the pain  

Every corner had a story, every alley a dream  

Now it’s all polished over, nothing’s what it seemed  

I’d give back the spotlight just to feel that rush again  

The rawness of the come-up, the bond between friends