I didn't ask for war, but I'm wearing well Got a piece of lead where my piece once fell They tried to take what I can't replace But I walked back out with a colder face Tattooed truth on a stitched-up frame Blood don't lie when you live through flame You can't fake pain, it's real I got wounds they still try to heal I was branded by the bullet, carved by steel Left for dead, but I don't kneel You can read my past in the way I stand Every scar's the mark of a better man They can't erase it, can't undo it I was branded by the bullet Branded by the bullet They don't see what that mirror shows That moment when the reaper froze I ain't here cause I got lucky I made death blink and left it bloody You don't learn this in no book You learn it when your last breath shook I don't brag, I just walk quiet Mocked by heat, baptized in riot I was branded by the bullet Carved by steel Left for dead but I don't kneel You can read my past in the way I stand Every scar's the mark of a better man They can't erase it, can't undo it I was branded by the bullet Branded by the bullet Some folks pray to forget what hurts I built a throne out of blood and dirt Ain't no shame in the way I move I wear my proof when I walk in the room I was branded by the bullet Carved by steel, left for dead but I don't kneel You can read my past in the way I stand Every scar's the mark of a better man They can't erase it, can't undo it I was branded by the bullet I was branded by the bullet