Intro
Mattress stuffed with receipts from the corner store
Ten years of rent paid in crumpled ones
My father kept the stubs, I keep the hunger
The hunger keeps the count
Verse 1
Sold my first brick before I sold my first lie
Six AM, the blocks still sleeping, I was wide
Twenty dollars in my pocket, twenty reasons to keep moving
Mother's pills weren't cheap and the landlord kept the proving
Started with a corner, corner turned to corridor
Corridor turned warehouse, warehouse turned to four
Four locations, four crews, four different names I answer to
Every name a scar, every scar a path I had to travel through
Nephew asked me once why I don't ever rest
Said the men who rest first are the ones who fail the test
I was twelve when I learned compound interest don't apply to love
Just to debt and doubt, just to blood and shove
Five years in the game, five years eating dust
Five years building credit with a currency of trust
Chorus
I count the ones that didn't make it to the morning
I count the ones that swore they'd burn but turned to smoke
I count the ones whose names got buried in the pavement
That's the interest that a man like me provoke
(That's the interest, yeah)
(That's the interest that I provoke)
Verse 2
Moved the weight to weight, the weight became a ache
Became a permanent flex in my left shoulder blade
Became a reason to never trust a doctor with the truth
Became a monument to everything I had to prove
Brother took a bullet meant for territory lines
Territory's just another word for mortgaged time
I inherited the debt, inherited the name
Inherited the ledger where the dead keep flame
Cop stopped me on Mercer, said he knew my file
File said I was dangerous, I smiled
Said the dangerous ones are the ones who understand
That a closed fist opens when you got a better plan
Thirty-two years old with a kingdom made of paper
Paper burns but the lessons linger, vapor's what I gave her
(Gave her)
Verse 3
Sister got out, moved to Harrisburg with a nurse's wage
Sent me fifty dollars monthly just to turn the page
I kept it in a frame next to Pops' discharge paperwork
Both of us were soldiers, both just learned the way it hurts
Now I'm sitting in a warehouse that I own, not rent
Counting all the years I spent so other years could meant
Something more than survival, something more than static
Something like a legacy that wasn't just a tactic
The young ones look at me like I'm immortal, like I'm proof
I'm just a man who traded youth for roof
And I'd do it all again with no regret
The interest on a life like this ain't paid out yet
Chorus
I count the ones that didn't make it to the morning
I count the ones that swore they'd burn but turned to smoke
I count the ones whose names got buried in the pavement
That's the interest that a man like me provoke
(That's the interest, yeah)
(That's the interest that I provoke)
Outro
Mattress still got receipts
Father's stubs, my hunger
The hunger keeps the count
Always keeps the count
