Intro
Nineteen-sixty-one, the ring bell cracked like a shot
My uncle spit a molar and half a prayer in the pot
Verse
Trainer said smile pretty, boy, that's how you get paid
Melted his championship ring into the trade
Gold cap gleamed under lights he never got to keep
Fought six more rounds on a jaw that wouldn't sleep
Promoter kept the purse, left him the shine to hold
Said a scar you can see is worth more than gold
Wore it to the funeral, wore it to the door
Wore it when the landlord came knocking twice, then four
Never pawned the tooth though the rent was three months late
Said some things you carry heavier than weight
Passed it to my father wrapped in an old bandana
Father passed it to me outside a rusted Montana
Told me every legend's got a tooth that costs
Mine's the only trophy that our family never lost
Hook
Smile like a vault, but the debt was never sold
Weight of the gold tooth heavier than gold
Every grin I flash is a story left untold
I kept the weight, I never let it go
Verse
Now I got my own, capped it senior year of school
Corner-store cash, paid the dentist off in full
Kids called it flashy, they ain't know the price it hold
Half a paycheck sacrificed just to shine cold
Wore it to the block when the block was running thin
Wore it to my mother's ward when the news came in
Doctor said the tumor's small, we caught it just in time
Gold tooth in my mouth while I prayed a broken rhyme
Sold my chain that winter, sold the watch, the ring
Never touched the tooth though, that's a different thing
That's the one that stays when everything else departs
Soldered metal memory holding down my heart
Not for flexing, not for cameras, not for show
It's the only receipt of everywhere I didn't go
Every dollar spent instead of buying what I lacked
Gold tooth is the ledger of the years I held it back
Hook
Smile like a vault, but the debt was never sold
Weight of the gold tooth heavier than gold
Every grin I flash is a story left untold
I kept the weight, I never let it go
Bridge
Pawnbroker offered stacks, said gold's up on the scale
Told him weight ain't measured only where the numbers sail
Told him every ounce got a name inside the shine
Told him this ain't currency, it's four generations' spine
I'll die with it still living where my uncle bled it first
Bury me still smiling, let the ground know what it's worth
It ain't the shine that matters, it's the staying through the years
Gold don't tell you nothing that the wearing didn't clear
Outro
Cracked bell still rings soft inside my chest
Tooth still gold, the family still unfinished, never rest
Weight of the gold tooth, that's the only crown I own
Wear it till they bury me, then it's somebody else's throne
