Verse 1
Knuckle split on Redding Ave, chain-link fence in the rain
Ran the block for a cousin's debt, came back with a stain
Kept the shirt in a drawer, still got the rust-colored crease
Every mark on my body got a story and a piece
Corner store owner fronted me a coat when I was nine
Paid him back in shoveled snow, February, one line
Scar under my eye from a brick thrown at fifteen
Traded silence for safety, never told what I'd seen
Momma's ring in a sock drawer, pawned it for the light bill
Got it back in July, kept the ticket on the windowsill
That's the ledger I'm running, not a number, not a name
Every wound got a witness, every witness got a claim
Pre-Chorus
What's the price on a favor when the favor draws blood
What's a scar if you can't name the flood
I been counting what it cost me since I was young
Chorus
Scars I kept the receipts for
Every one got a reason, every reason got a door
Ask me what I paid, I can show you, I got proof
Scars I kept the receipts for
Verse 2
Told my brother I'd hold it down, held it down for a year
Sleeping on his couch spring, digging change out my ear
Landlord banged at the door like he owned the whole floor
Slid an envelope under, wrote the date on the drawer
Watched a friend fold under weight that I carried twice
Still I kept his number saved, still I gave advice
Burn scar on my forearm from the stove in that place
Heating water for a bath 'cause the pipes had no grace
Every callus on my palm is a season I survived
Every debt I settled quiet kept my people alive
I don't flex the damage, I just carry it clean
Proof that I showed up for the ones I love, unseen
Pre-Chorus
What's the price on a favor when the favor draws blood
What's a scar if you can't name the flood
I been counting what it cost me since I was young
Chorus
Scars I kept the receipts for
Every one got a reason, every reason got a door
Ask me what I paid, I can show you, I got proof
Scars I kept the receipts for
Bridge
Found the box last winter, dust across the lid
Ring, the ticket, the burnt-up sleeve, everything I hid
Realized the scars ain't debt no more, they're just the way I stand
Stopped keeping score for others, started reading my own hand
Same block, same ache, but I carry it different now
Proof ain't for the world to see, it's how I take a bow
Chorus
Scars I kept the receipts for
Every one got a reason, every reason got a door
Ask me what I paid, I can show you, I got proof
Scars I kept the receipts for
