Verse
Basement panel humming, breaker box from '81
Wire strands nick my knuckle every job half done
Mrs. Odom, third floor, radiator's cold as stone
Called the super twice this week, left it on her own
Duffel bag of copper pipe worth more than my rent
Ruben's scrapyard pays by pound, no questions where it went
Landlord's letter taped my door, three months in arrears
Still I run the line to her unit, swallow what it costs me here
Pre-Chorus
What's a room worth when the fever climbs
What's a bill worth against an old woman's spine
I keep choosing warm over what's mine
Every winter since '09
Chorus
Copper scars, warm light
That's the trade I make tonight
Copper scars, warm light
Keep the block breathing, keep it tight
Verse
My brother calls it soft, says a hustle's still a hustle
Strip the whole fourth floor, split it, no more muscle
Told him Pop wired half this building back when I was ten
Taught me current follows patience, not the way you spend
Found his old tool belt buried underneath the sink
Leather cracked like riverbed, still smells like solder and zinc
I could cash it out tomorrow, live a little wide
Instead I tape the exposed wire, walk the dark hallway outside
Pre-Chorus
What's a room worth when the fever climbs
What's a bill worth against an old woman's spine
I keep choosing warm over what's mine
Every winter since '09
Chorus
Copper scars, warm light
That's the trade I make tonight
Copper scars, warm light
Keep the block breathing, keep it tight
Bridge
Ruben asked me why I don't sell the whole coil
Told him some things ain't for scrapyard soil
Every scar on my palm's got a window it saved
A porch light on at midnight, a name I ain't erased
This ain't about the money I could've had instead
It's about the hallway humming when everybody's fed
Chorus
Copper scars, warm light
That's the trade I make tonight
Copper scars, warm light
Keep the block breathing, keep it tight
