Ledger of the Underpass (version 3)

Intro

Chalk on concrete, cold hum overhead

Names in the tally, some of them dead

Verse

Underpass wall, eleven names deep

Scratched at nine, watched the numbers keep

Tommy's mark faded, rain got in the groove

Ricky's still counting, ain't got nowhere to move

Headlights above cut the dark in a line

Every car passing is a debt on the sign

I come back sober, check who's still around

Concrete keeps the score when the rest of us don't

Pre-Chorus

Tell me who's still standing

Tell me who got out

Echo in the tunnel

Answers with a shout

Chorus

Ledger of the underpass, chalk and rust

Names in the concrete, turning into dust

Cold light counting what the block collects

Ledger of the underpass never forgets

Verse

Sixteen now, added my brother's initials

Below the ones already going official

Some moved to columns marked gone for good

Some stayed local, doing just what they should

I passed through at midnight, traced the old chalk

Felt it under fingers like a debt that won't talk

The overpass hums when the traffic rolls through

Sounds like a number closing out on you

Pre-Chorus

Tell me who's still standing

Tell me who got out

Echo in the tunnel

Answers with a shout

Chorus

Ledger of the underpass, chalk and rust

Names in the concrete, turning into dust

Cold light counting what the block collects

Ledger of the underpass never forgets

Bridge

I added my own name last

Traced it slow, made it last

Not sure yet which column it's in

Standing still counts as a win

Chorus

Ledger of the underpass, chalk and rust

Names in the concrete, turning into dust

Cold light counting what the block collects

Ledger of the underpass never forgets

Outro

Chalk on concrete, cold hum overhead

Still adding names to the ones that stayed