Verse
Fourth floor, tar roof, wire mesh built by hand
Uncle Renny showed me how the coop's supposed to stand
Six a.m. feed run before the school bell rings
Corn in my palm, dust on my sneakers, flutter of wings
Block below is loud, sirens braid into the heat
But up here the only static's feathers and feet
Guys on the stoop swear the roof's just wasted space
I say it's the one thing round here holding its shape
Pre-Chorus
How you stay clean when the whole street's asking for your hands
How you build something that circles back and understands
Chorus
Concrete halo, ringing over the noise
Same block raised it, same block gave it a voice
I keep it steady, I keep it whole
Concrete halo hanging over my soul
Verse
Dre got knocked, county upstate, six-year bid
Told me watch his birds like watch the son he never did
Landlord offered cash to clear the roof for antennas
I turned him down twice, kept the coop like a promise remembers
Winter came hard, water froze inside the trough
I broke ice with my knuckles till the skin came off
Some loyalty's loud, some just shows up and stays
Mine's a latch I check the same time every day
Pre-Chorus
How you stay right when the pressure's paying better than the truth
How you build something that still comes home to the roof
Chorus
Concrete halo, ringing over the noise
Same block raised it, same block gave it a voice
I keep it steady, I keep it whole
Concrete halo hanging over my soul
Bridge
Storm hit hard one August, blew the mesh clean off the frame
I stood there soaked, thinking maybe I'm the one to blame
Then I saw them circling, twenty birds against the gray
Came back to a broken coop 'cause home don't wash away
That's the only lesson this roof ever had to give
Ring might bend, ring might rust, but the ring's how you live
Chorus
Concrete halo, ringing over the noise
Same block raised it, same block gave it a voice
I keep it steady, I keep it whole
Concrete halo hanging over my soul
