About the song
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Words from the artist’s archive
LINES IN THE LEDGER lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
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Intro
Street lights flicker like they know what we owe. Mama taped bills on the fridge like a scoreboard of lows. Every dollar stretch thin till it threatens to fold. If knowledge is a weapon, then we sharpen the load.
Verse 1
U.S. poverty line low like a pothole hit, Fifteen K to thirty, whole fam tryna fit. Federal minimum wage stuck, dust on the sign, Seven twenty-five make you age before your time. Low-income households juggle rent and hope, Childcare deserts tax pockets seventeen K like a joke. Gig workers grind side hustles till they can’t feel feet, SPM still show twelve to fourteen deep. Detroit, Cleveland, Newark, where survival’s an art, But even the toughest blocks need a fairer start.
Pre-chorus
Ends don’t meet, they beef across town, Budget holes leak faster than the broke get drowned. HUD charts swing rent like a punch to the crown, Learn the rules of the game so you don’t stay down.
Chorus
We draw lines in the ledger, pull truth from the pressure. Check-to-check livin’ but we move with intention. When the rent stay loud, then the grind get clever. What they hide in the numbers, we turn into leverage.
Verse 2
BLS numbers talk, but the block talk real, Essential workers broke but they shoulder the wheel. Immigrants, papers or not, whole country rely, But systems slam doors like “your chance ain’t applied.” Baltimore, Memphis, Newark fight steep odds, Mississippi, Louisiana, poverty written in scars. Community college three K sound light in a post, But with kids, long drives, bills, that’s a heavy-pay road. Pandemic relief in twenty-twenty gave quick proof, But when help dried up, the struggle stepped back in the booth.
Bridge 1
War on Poverty echoes old halls gone dim, SNAP in the ’70s tried filling food to the brim. EITC in ’75 gave some families lift, But high rent today still steals half the gift.
Verse 3
Some states push wages, sixteen plus making noise, Others fight raises like it’d hurt rich boys. Healthcare divides cut whole families apart, Medicaid helps some but not everyone starts. Universal pre-K? That’d change whole blocks, Transit upgrades? That’d unlock new clocks. From West Coast crescents to New Hampshire breeze, We break old cycles so the next gen breathes.
Chorus
We draw lines in the ledger, pull truth from the pressure. Check-to-check livin’ but we move with intention. When the rent stay loud, then the grind get clever. What they hide in the numbers, we turn into leverage.
Bridge 2
Stack truth like overdue bills on the floor, Every stat that we learn is a key to the door. If the system move slow, then we rise even more, Turn lessons to weapons, that’s what knowledge is for.
Chorus
We draw lines in the ledger, pull truth from the pressure. Check-to-check livin’ but we move with intention. When the rent stay loud, then the grind get clever. What they hide in the numbers, we turn into leverage.
Chorus
We draw lines in the ledger, pull truth from the pressure. Check-to-check livin’ but we move with intention. When the rent stay loud, then the grind get clever. What they hide in the numbers, we turn into leverage.
Outro
Street taught numbers nobody wrote in a book. Pain taught patience nobody else ever took. Pass the truth forward, that’s how real change look. New eyes on the game, whole community shook.
Inside the recording
Street lights flicker like they know what we owe. Mama taped bills on the fridge like a scoreboard of lows.
Ends don’t meet, they beef across town, Budget holes leak faster than the broke get drowned.
Street taught numbers nobody wrote in a book. Pain taught patience nobody else ever took.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.