Intro
Bell above the door cracked, still rings off-key
Pop Odell keep a ledger where the numbers disagree
Spiral notebook, pencil marks, no interest, no decree
That's the only bank that ever kept its word with me
Verse
Corner of Ninth and Miller, fluorescent light half dead
Milk crate for a stool where the old heads play instead
Pop Odell wipe the counter with a rag gone gray as ash
Write your name in pencil when you short a little cash
Bread today, paid Friday, that's the only rule they run
Never charge you interest, only ask you don't run
I was twelve when I wrote my mother's debt myself
Watched him cross it off in April, shelved it with the rest
Every name inside that ledger got a story to it
Some erased in graphite, some just faded till you knew it
Cigarettes for Uncle Ray, aspirin for Miss Fontaine
Diaper money, light bill money, all writ down the same
He don't judge the columns, only judge if you come back
Half the block owe something, but the trust it never crack
Used to think it's charity, now I know it's more
It's the only church on Miller Street that never locks the door
Chorus
Corner store communion, pencil on the wall
Credit in the ledger when the cash won't fall
Pop Odell keep the faith when nobody call
Corner store communion feed us through it all
Verse
Junior got j
