Intro
Ledger book and a ballpoint pen
Kept the count when the count got thin
Said the interest compounds in the blood
Verse 1
My pops kept numbers in his head like a vault
Every dollar borrowed, every dime the cost
Wrote it down on napkins, envelopes, scraps
Said a man who forgets what he owes, he's trapped
Fifty-two weeks working, fifty-two weeks owed
Interest on the grocery, interest on the road
Nephew needed school clothes, borrowed from the crew
Paid it back in installments plus what was due
The lender never written but the debt was real
Handshake in the stairwell, that's the only deal
He'd tell me: money's memory, memory's the chain
Every borrowed moment got a price, a name
I watched him keep those ledgers in his mind so clean
Numbered all the favors, never missed a scene
Said the poorest man's the one who can't recall
What he promised to the people, what he owes them all
Chorus
Interest compounds in the blood
Every debt a seed, every seed a flood
You can't outrun what you owe
The ledger keeps its own slow grow
Verse 2
Now I'm in the game and the game's the same
Borrowed time to build it, borrowed heat for flame
Every hand I shook, every back I had
Tallied up inside me like a thousand stats
Woman at the corner store, she fronted me some bread
When the first check landed, interest in my head
Paid her double what she asked, she said that ain't the way
Said you settle what you owe and then you're on your way
But the debt don't end like that, it compounds in the soul
Every kindness that I take becomes a piece of coal
I carry in my chest, a weight that don't get light
The interest on survival is you never sleep at night
My pops knew this formula, lived it to the end
Said the only way to break it is to never need to lend
Chorus
Interest compounds in the blood
Every debt a seed, every seed a flood
You can't outrun what you owe
The ledger keeps its own slow grow
Verse 3
So I built the business with no borrowed hand
Earned the right to stand here on this ground I stand
Every dollar clean, no shadow underneath
No collector knocking, no regret in teeth
The interest on that freedom is you never forget
Where you come from, what you owe, the weight of every debt
I keep my pops' old napkins in a box at home
Proof that numbers follow you, you never walk alone
The ledger's always running, always keeping score
The interest on the living is you settle all before
You can call yourself a man or claim you made it true
You pay what's owed in full and you don't owe nothing new
Outro
Ledger book and a ballpoint pen
Said the count don't end, the count don't end
Interest compounds in the blood
