Intro
Slab wasn't dry yet when Dale poured the block anew
Whole street came out, pressed a hand or two
Not for luck, not for play, that's the pact we knew
Whatever goes in wet stays written and true
Verse 1
Nine years old, knees on fresh cement, palm flat and small
Marcus scratched his initials right under the wall
Said this is forever, boy, better mean what you write
Ink fades on paper but stone holds the fight
I pressed mine next to his, added the date in a rush
Dale hollered wait, but we already left the smudge
That corner still got our names pressed into the ground
Forty-some summers later, same crack, same sound
My sneaker soles remember every square we claimed
Every promise that block held before we knew the game
Uncle Reese said the street don't forget who it raised
Said the concrete keeps score long after the praise fades
Watched a dealer press his name right by the drain
Six months later scratched it out himself, in shame
That's the rule down here, ain't written nowhere else
You put your name in stone, you better prove yourself
Chorus
Concrete scripture, block's own bible
Your name stays wet till your word gets stable
Press it in, you can't take it back
That's the law under every crack
Verse 2
Sabrina's initials sit by the hydrant, chipped but clear
She kept her word through every hungry year
Fed the block kids off a stove that barely stayed lit
Never asked for credit, just pressed her hand in it
Then there's the one they scratched out, deep and jagged
Told the wrong ear something, block don't forget the bragging
Walked past that spot for years, felt the gouge like a scar
Reminder that trust don't travel too far
When it's broke on this ground where the cement don't lie
I used to think it was just sidewalk, just dust gone dry
Now I know it's a ledger, every crack got a name
Every name got a story, every story got blame
or glory, depends on the weight that you carried
The block don't rush judgment, but it damn sure buries
nothing — keeps it all, plain as the day it dried
Concrete don't forgive, but it don't never lie
Chorus
Concrete scripture, block's own bible
Your name stays wet till your word gets stable
Press it in, you can't take it back
That's the law under every crack
Bridge
I go back sometimes, kneel down by the drain
Run my thumb along my name through the rain
Wonder if I lived up to what nine-year-old wrote
Some promises age like wine, some just choke
I've broken a few, patched a few with cash and time
Some scars I'm still paying down, one crooked dime
But my hand's still there, pressed in that old gray stone
Whatever I become, that mark's not mine alone
Outro
Rain comes, washes the dust, never the name
Block remembers different than the six o'clock frame
Whatever's in the concrete, stays
Long after we're gone, long after the day
