John 3:16,5

Lyrics

[0:00–0:20 — FIRST PASS / LOVE FIRST, KINGDOM SECOND]

John three, sixteen and five.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[Start bone-dry and intimate: cheap phone-mic tenor, room hiss, faint vinyl crackle, one chopped Rhodes note and low bass pulse. No full drums. Let “For God so loved the world” sound almost conversational—familiar words with no polished worship treatment. Keep “everlasting life” warm and restrained. Then leave a real pause before “Jesus answered.”]

[0:21–0:59 — SECOND PASS / LOVE INTO BOOM BAP]

John chapter three, verses sixteen and five.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[Drop thick dusty boom-bap drums: chunky kick, cracked dry snare, warm bassline, chopped soul-Rhodes, muted guitar scratches and vinyl grit.]

[LEAD]

For God so loved the world.

[ONE ROUGH OFF-MIC VOICE]

Loved the world.

[LEAD]

That he gave his only begotten Son.

[ROUGH CREW — SHORT, WARM]

His Son.

[Move on immediately. No chant.]

That whosoever believeth in him
should not perish—

[MICRO-SILENCE]

But have everlasting life.

[FIRST PSYCHEDELIC MICROBURST: tiny reverse Rhodes bloom under “life,” widening for half a second, then collapsing back to dusty mono.]

Jesus answered—

[BEAT CUT]

Verily, verily, I say unto thee.

[Let the delivery sharpen here. Less melodic, more direct.]

Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit—

[ONE LOW VOICE]

The Spirit.

He cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.

[Let “kingdom of God” land heavy and plain.]

[1:00–1:35 — INTERLUDE / WATER / SPIRIT / KINGDOM]

Ooh.
Yeah.

For God so loved the world.

[Keep the groove filthy and relaxed. Bassline walks. Table taps. One rough “ooh.” One voice too close to the mic.]

Everlasting life.

[ACOUSTIC MICROBURST: two tiny bright acoustic notes after “life,” barely one second, then gone.]

Jesus answered,
Verily, verily—

[PSYCHEDELIC MICROBURST: duplicate “verily” into two tiny warped echoes that briefly answer from opposite sides, then snap dry.]

Except a man be born of water—

[BEAT THINS]

And of the Spirit.

[ONE ROUGH VOICE]

Spirit.

He cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.

[Do not add a response. Let that statement own the pocket.]

[1:36–2:19 — THIRD PASS / FINAL ALBUM STATEMENT]

The gospel according to John, chapter three, verses sixteen and five.

For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

[Start third pass with bass and lead only. Let the boom-bap drums re-enter piece by piece. Keep this like the last cipher of the album—settled, confident, rough.]

[LEAD]

For God so loved the world.

[ONE LOW VOICE]

Yeah.

That he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.

[SHORT SILENCE]

Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee—

[Kick returns alone.]

Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit—

[ROUGH CREW — ONE PUNCH ONLY]

WATER AND THE SPIRIT!

[One voice late. One raspy. One barely on pitch. Keep it.]

He cannot enter
into the kingdom of God.

[SECOND ACOUSTIC MICROBURST: one tiny ascending acoustic lick after “kingdom of God,” then gone.]

[OUTRO / LAST WALK]

Ooh.
Yeah.

[No more scripture repetition. Let the boom-bap instrumental ride like the album keeps walking after the words stop: thick kick, slightly late snare, warm bassline, chopped Rhodes, vinyl crackle, shoe scuffs, table percussion and rough room hums.]

[One final psychedelic accident: the Rhodes sample reverses while the drums remain perfectly forward.]

[Someone quietly reacts off-mic.]

[Remove the instruments one by one until only vinyl hiss and room tone remain.]

[Hard cut.]

[OVERALL VOCAL DIRECTION]

[The architecture is LOVE → GIFT → EVERLASTING LIFE → JESUS SPEAKS → WATER → SPIRIT → KINGDOM. Verse sixteen should feel warm and familiar; verse five should suddenly sharpen the doctrinal focus. Male tenor sounds like a naturally musical guy delivering Scripture over boom bap with friends—not polished Christian radio. Dry, grainy, rhythm-first, understated swagger, quick imperfect runs and natural pitch edges. Crew is 3–5 rough church friends around one cheap mic—late catches, cracked notes, tiny reactions and uneven volume. Boom bap dominates. Psychedelia behaves like sampler glitches: reverse Rhodes, stereo echoes, pitch slips, brief tape weirdness. Acous