Intro
Thirty-seven dollars in my pocket, Tuesday morning
The landlord's knocking soft like he don't want to wake the dead
But the rent's two weeks behind and the notice on the door
Yellowed at the edges like a photograph of before
Verse 1
Mama worked the cannery line, fingers wrapped in gauze
Twelve-hour shifts for forty years, never counted what it cost
Said the work don't love you back but it pays the light bill down
Keeps the roof from caving in on this particular town
I was seventeen when she showed me how to file a claim
Insurance company sent a letter with her name spelled wrong—same game
She just laughed it off and kept the lunchbox by the door
Said the system's built to break you, child, but breaking don't mean poor
My uncle had a warehouse job until his shoulder quit
Doctor said he'd never lift again, but the clinic wouldn't admit
He was suffering, just aging, just a body running down
So he fixed cars in the driveway, kept the whole block rolling round
I learned the engine's just a lesson in what holds and what will fail
Every bolt you turn is bargaining, every patch a prayer or nail
Chorus
I'm building heaven out of scraps, out of what won't break
Every tool I've borrowed, every hand I had to take
Nothing comes for free but nothing's promised to be lost
I'm building heaven out of scraps, and I'll pay the cost
Verse 2
Started at the dock when I was barely old enough to lie
Loading cargo till my spine curved like a question mark on time
Boss man said if you can't keep up, there's a hundred more outside
So I moved faster than the pain and I kept my mouth sealed tight
Saved three thousand dollars in a shoebox under board
Took a course on nights, learned a trade that's always needed, in demand, adored
Now I bid on jobs and hire kids the way I wish someone had hired me
Give them forty hours, tell them college ain't the only way to be free
My daughter asked me last week why my hands look like a map
I told her every scar's a story, every blister's where I cracked
But I cracked and stayed together, kept the pieces on the shelf
Built a life that's mine, not borrowed, and that's the only wealth
Chorus
I'm building heaven out of scraps, out of what won't break
Every tool I've borrowed, every hand I had to take
Nothing comes for free but nothing's promised to be lost
I'm building heaven out of scraps, and I'll pay the cost
Bridge
They don't write the story down in books about the ones who stayed
Who planted roots in concrete, who never got away
The ones who turned the corner with a single breath of luck
And built a wall of steady hands that nobody could touch
Verse 3
Now I walk these streets and see the young ones hungry, lean
Eyes still sharp and searching for a door that ain't been seen
I remember that reflection, know exactly where they stand
So I hired the kid with nothing, gave him work and gave him plans
He's got a foreman's license now, a crew that trusts his word
