Style: Hip Hop / Rap — storytelling, mid tempo

[Intro — spoken]

Charles used to run two miles every morning before school...

Last spring he couldn't make it up the stairs without stopping...

His wife said he looked gray...

[Verse 1]

Charles was the kind of man who never slowed down,

Coached thirty years of football in a small southern town,

But somewhere in his forties something started to shift,

Every morning getting dressed felt like lifting a gift.

Tired all the time — not the normal kind of tired,

Legs were swelling up by evening — something had transpired,

Couldn't lie flat anymore — needed pillows just to sleep,

Woke up short of breath at midnight — feelings running deep.

[Pre-Chorus]

Wife said Charles you look different — color leaving your face,

Heart was beating fast and weak — struggling to keep pace,

Went to the doctor finally — chest X-ray told the tale,

Heart looked big and rounded — edges going pale.

[Chorus]

Charles can't catch his breath now — heart is working hard,

Pumping weaker than it should — every beat is scarred,

Fluid backing up — the legs and lungs are full,

Charles needs help — his heart has lost its pull.

[Verse 2]

Doctor hooked him up and watched the rhythm on the screen,

Fast and slightly off — the weakest pump he'd seen,

Sound waves showed the heart was stretched and thin inside,

Squeezing less than half of what it should — nowhere left to hide.

History came out slowly — Charles drank more than he said,

Years of heavy drinking — cells inside were dead,

Family history too — his father had the same,

Charles never put it all together — never knew the game.

[Bridge]

Doctor said the heart muscle is stretched beyond its size,

Not pumping like it should — fluid is the price,

Five medications now — Charles takes them every day,

Watches how much salt he eats — tracks his weight each way.

Quit the drinking — that was hard — hardest thing he'd done,

Rehab for the alcohol — and the heart — all one,

Some patients get a special device — wires to the heart,

Some end up on a transplant list — that's a different start.

[Outro]

Charles coaches from the bleachers now — can't run the field,

Takes his pills each morning — learning how to yield,

Heart is slightly stronger — doing better than before,

Charles knows his limits now — but still gives everything more.

“Charles’s Story”