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Words from the artist’s archive
Twelve Houses lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
Three thirty-three, ceiling stars half fell off the paint Left the holes where they hung, that's a map too
Verse 1
27th Ave glow like a strip of low constellations Every window a sign, every porch light a station Moms read the paper horoscope out by the stove Said the block was born under somethin' nobody chose There go the Warrior, scar on his hand from the gate Builder next door pourin' concrete, never late Dreamer on the corner sellin' sketches for a plate care·giv·er keep the kitchen warm when the bills run late I clocked all twelve before I learned to read my own Whole sky over Carol City and I'm out here alone
Pre-chorus
Count the houses, one to twelve, down the line Borrowed sky, borrowed light, but the readin' is mine
Chorus
Twelve houses on the block, one borrowed sky, one sky Born under a sign I didn't sign Warrior, builder, the dreamer 'cross the hall I know all twelve by name, I won't be them all, all twelve
Verse 2
They hand you a sign at birth like a court date set Cancer hold it all in, Scorpio hold a debt Aries swing first, Capricorn climb steep Libra weighin' everybody, can't weigh herself Moms said "you a Cancer, that's why you don't let nobody in" Nah, that's the chart talkin', or is that just my skin Opa-Locka to Liberty City, twelve fates on the map The weight ain't the stars, it's the name they make it mean Publix line, fluorescent, readin' my whole life off a screen
Pre-chorus
Count the houses, one to twelve, down the line One bell come back wrong, like a sign gone blind
Chorus
Twelve houses on the block, one borrowed sky, one sky Born under a sign I didn't sign Warrior, builder, the dreamer 'cross the hall I know all twelve by heart, and I'm still not one of y'all, not one
Verse 3
Pulled my own chart up, 3 a.m., thumb on the crack Read everybody else, never read myself back There I am in the margins, the one who fix everybody's house Virgo with the tape and the broom, leavin' my own light out Born under a sign I didn't sign Saddest part, I been signin' everybody's all this time
Verse 4
Twelve little pictures tried to box my life in Took the placemat zodiac, flipped it like a coin Palmetto goin' east, against my own forecast App keep buzzin' "be patient," I been patient, that's the warpath They said fixed sign, I said watch a fixed sign move Four-dollar botanica candle, I lit it for proof Not for luck, for the light, read the room not the moon Twelve houses can't hold me, I'm the door, not the room
Pre-chorus
Count the houses, one to twelve, but I'm writin' thirteen A house for the man who reads the sign and stays unseen
Chorus
Twelve houses on the block, one borrowed sky, one sky Born under a sign I didn't sign Warrior, builder, the dreamer 'cross the hall I know all twelve by name, so I'm namin' my own, my own all twelve, my own, my own
Verse 5
Lil cousin askin' what sign got the strongest pull Told him the one that reads the rest and stays full The chart's a map where you stand, not a cell you stay Glued the plastic stars back up, point the way care·giv·er, warrior, dreamer, all of 'em in one skin You don't pick one of twelve, you the room they live in Read the sky, read the block, then read your name Born under a sign you didn't sign, go sign your name
Outro
Twelve houses on the block One of 'em finally mine
Inside the recording
Three thirty-three, ceiling stars half fell off the paint Left the holes where they hung, that's a map too
Count the houses, one to twelve, down the line Borrowed sky, borrowed light, but the readin' is mine
Twelve houses on the block One of 'em finally mine
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.