Intro
Fourth floor, water stain shaped like a map nobody reads
Radiator knocking like it's got something to confess
Every crack in the plaster got a name, got a date
I keep a ledger too, but mine's written on my face
Verse 1
Sixteen, corner store, lifting snacks I couldn't buy
Mama working nights, leaving notes and nothing else behind
Got caught, got released, got a record and a choice
Stay hungry or stay silent, both of 'em kill your voice
Took a job at the warehouse, loading trucks at four a.m.
Foreman saw the desperation, paid me less than all the rest
Three years of my paychecks went to bail bonds and to court
While my boys were getting richer, I was richer getting short
Watched a friend move product, watched him move into a tomb
Watched his mother age in seconds in a basement funeral room
Kept my hands clean, kept my head down, kept the hunger sharp and still
Every scar I didn't get is a scar I know how to feel
Chorus
I'm keeping score in the dark
Every loss is a mark
Every choice leave a scar
I'm keeping score in the dark
Verse 2
Twenty-four, got promoted, got a raise and got a doubt
Landlord finally stopped calling, but the weight don't move around
Met a girl on the sixth floor, she had eyes like an exit sign
Told her stories, told her nothing, kept the ledger off her mind
She asked me once about my hands, why they're steady when they shake
I said some people learn the world by counting all they couldn't take
She left because I couldn't say the word that means to let it go
Left because I'm always tallying, left because she didn't know
That every scar's a contract, every bruise is collateral
Every night I didn't run is a night I went through hell and all
The block don't keep no mercy, and the block don't offer grace
So I'm keeping my own ledger, keeping numbers on this face
Chorus
I'm keeping score in the dark
Every loss is a mark
Every choice leave a scar
I'm keeping score in the dark
Verse 3
Thirty now, still on the same block, different apartment, same walls
Mentor younger kids who got that hunger, see themselves in all my falls
Show 'em how to walk a line between the money and the rope
Show 'em how to count their blessings when the only thing is hope
The radiator still coughs, the stain still shapes itself wrong
But I read it different now, like a map I've traveled long
Every scar tells the story of a choice I made to live
Every mark's a small reminder of the things I didn't give
To the corner, to the game, to the voice that said be quick
I'm keeping score, but the score don't matter, just the fact I got this thick
Ledger's full, but the pages turn, and the ink ain't written yet
I'm still breathing, still deciding, and that's the only win I get
Outro
Fourth floor, water stain, radiator knocking still
I'm keeping score in the dark
I'm keeping score in the dark
