Intro
Grandmama's rosary swinging off the rearview since '98
Beads gone amber, clasp gone orange, rust won't shake straight
Verse
She said hold the cross when the sirens start to hum
Told me faith weigh heavier than any pistol or gun
Fourth of July the paint peeled off Cassian Street
Church bell cracked but the block still moved to that beat
Kept them beads in my pocket next to bus tokens and lint
Rubbed the rust with my thumb like I could rub off the hint
That the Lord watching close as the corner store cam
Every sin get logged like a tab, every debt like a scam
Sixteen and already trading favors for silence
Learned the weight of a secret before I learned violence
Pawnshop window flickered gold under the sodium light
Mr. Aldo behind the glass said business is tight
Never thought I'd trade heaven for cash in a drawer
But the rent don't care what you praying for
Held them beads so tight the cross left a print in my palm
Wore it like a scar disguised as a psalm
Chorus
Rust on the rosary, still I pray
Faith don't rinse the stain away
Held it tighter than the debt could weigh
Rust on the rosary, still I pray
Verse
My brother caught a charge for a car he ain't even drive
Bail set at eight hundred, judge ain't blink twice
Mama crying in the kitchen, purse turned inside out
I remembered them beads, said I know a way about
Walked to Aldo's with my hood up, palms doing sweat
Slid the rosary cross the counter like a final bet
He gave me six hundred, said the gold plate thin
Told him it ain't about the gold, it's about my kin
Bailed him out by midnight, held him while he cried
Told him rust don't mean broken, it just mean it's been tried
Slept that night with my collar cold, no chain on my neck
Felt like I owed something bigger than a check
Three weeks working doubles at the warehouse on Fell
Saving up the difference, counting every single bell
Went back for them beads before the sixty days ran dry
Aldo said somebody paid it off, ain't say why
Chorus
Rust on the rosary, still I pray
Faith don't rinse the stain away
Held it tighter than the debt could weigh
Rust on the rosary, still I pray
Bridge
Turned out mama pawned her wedding band that same week
Redeemed my rosary quiet, never let it leak
Said some things you carry so the young ones don't gotta bend
Said faith ain't the object, it's who you protect till the end
Hung them beads back on the mirror, rust and all
Don't need it shining to remember when the walls
Almost caved in on us and we ain't fall
Outro
Rust on the rosary, still it swings
Every corner we survived stitched between the rings
Still I pray, still I pray, still I pray
