[Artifice]

as a kid i was raised & spent plenty of time in the gutter
learned tricks of the trade, swindles & plays from the wisest of hustlers
it was strange the way these shady guys were kind to each other
took me in & trained me, their criminal ways my eyes did discover
all kinds of subterfuges used to earn a quick buck
so as a tot pickpocketing was not something too difficult to pick up
a spent youth on the road scammin' plenty of you
every penny you're ready to lose... into my hands they steadily flew
grew into an incredulous brute, travelled towns & counties
targeting taverns & inns for games to sit in & take down a bounty
one day i found a dog on the road, came to call him my own
a flea-infested best friend & protector, we never spent life all alone
a boy and his dog against the world, both had a bone to pick
abandoned by family we somehow managed to make our own of it
still a degenerate living my days cheating at cards for cash
beating the smartest lads in the bars, a real master of sharps and flats
where i met my achilles heel, whose eyes glowed with infamy
but his smile looked so sincere, from ear to ear he lied so convincingly
apples don't fall far from the tree, he took all of it from me
may seem nice at first but there's certainly no honour among thieves
the last hand i was double-crossed & it cost me my best friend
my table's been turned, his terms i never should've agreed to accept them
now in this broken moment I know the true meaning of lonely
for I've just gambled away the only family that's ever really consoled me