9
Late bus home
Back of the line
Headphones loud
World on rewind
Cut class cut corners
Cut friends by November
Cold air on the corner store glass
I still remember
Loose change in a dice game
My cousin yelling “one more”
Blue lights in the rearview
He ran through the back door
Mama worked two shifts straight
Eyes red like brake lights
I lied said “I’m doing great”
Heart heavy as brake lines
Old heads on the park bench
Telling me “save that pride”
But pride paid the rent last month
When the check came light
From the midnight corners I came up slow
Turning pain to stories that they don’t know (they don’t know)
Every scar every loss made a halo glow
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold (paved in gold)
From the midnight corners I don’t go back
But I still hear the echoes when the world go black (world go black)
If you see me in the light know I paid that toll
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold
My bro had a backpack dream
White keys in a black case
Thought we’d tour off sixteens
He got booked in the same place
First chain that I ever bought
Turned green in a week flat
Still shined in the bathroom mirror
I swore I’d never bring it back
City bus to a temp job
Sweat dripping on name tags
Clocked out hit the late shop
Flipped beats in a stained pad
Wrote lines on receipts
From a thrifted pair of jeans
Every bar was a backstreet
Every hook was a cracked screen
From the midnight corners I came up slow
Turning pain to stories that they don’t know (they don’t know)
Every scar every loss made a halo glow
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold (paved in gold)
From the midnight corners I don’t go back
But I still hear the echoes when the world go black (world go black)
If you see me in the light know I paid that toll
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold
Some nights I still taste
Cheap smoke cold rain
Same block new plates
Same ghosts old names
If I break I break forward
Face first not backward
Prayed low in a small room
Came out sounding massive (yeah)
From the midnight corners I came up slow
Turning pain to stories that they don’t know (they don’t know)
Every scar every loss made a halo glow
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold (paved in gold)
From the midnight corners I don’t go back
But I still hear the echoes when the world go black (world go black)
If you see me in the light know I paid that toll
I was walking through the dark now I’m paved in gold
