About the song
A story for this song hasn’t been added yet.
Words from the artist’s archive
Green Enough 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
Six-ten bus, window fog, patch in my palm Nineteen hours on the clock and I'm trying to stay calm
Verse 1
Press the green sticker flat to the vein on my wrist App won't open the good shifts less the reader say I exist Terms of service, page nine, on a cracked-up screen "We track your mood for safety," scroll, accept, don't read Nineteen hours, eighty short, three-forty in late Rent portal lock at nine, so the math don't wait Driver next to me asleep, I keep my hands real still Patch go amber when it read me, green's the one that pays the bill
Pre-chorus
Tick, the reader want a smile it can sell Tick, and I'm grinning at a screen like all is well
Chorus
Count it down, count it down till it all read zero Patch on my wrist say I ain't green enough to go My calm is for rent and the meter running slow Count it down, count it down, watch the number go low
Verse 2
Skipped the eggs, skipped a seat, saved the transfer in my coat Hunger drop the reading and the reading drop the throat Amber, amber, locked me out the fourteen-dollar runs Nine-dollar scraps is all the patch'll let me run Landlord text at noon: "balance due, no extension" Thirteen hours now, and a heart rate they can mention Stress read as a risk, risk read as a flag They don't pay the shook ones, so I steady up and drag
Pre-chorus
Tick, the reader want a smile it can sell Tick, and I'm grinning at a screen like all is well
Chorus
Count it down, count it down till it all read zero Patch on my wrist say I ain't green enough to go My calm is for rent and the meter running slow Count it down, count it down, watch the number go low
Verse 3
Breaking news cut the beat, anchor voice on the speaker "Households leaning on the payday loans, the squeeze a little deeper, second jobs up, savings down," they read it like a weather report on a slow Tuesday, I'm a decimal in the measure Eight hours, I'm a stat they round before the comma Forty million of us, ain't a face, just the drama I refresh, refresh, refresh, beg the amber turn a shade green enough to make the rent in a body that's afraid
Bridge
My calm is for rent, and I'm late on that too
Verse 4
Midnight, rain on the windshield, last drop on the route Peel the green patch off my wrist just to spike the readout Hand it a steady number that my body never gave Ninety minutes on the clock, paid enough to half-be saved Then the screen go red: "TAMPERING DETECTED, REVIEW" Account under hold, every open shift withdrew Standing in the rain with a phone that will not unlock And the only thing still ticking is the late-fee clock
Verse 5
Quiet room, ceiling fan, trash bags by the door Photos off the wall, dust line where they were before Watch the counter hit it, watch the last grain go Screen fade gray and soft: one word, "SUSPENDED," slow Zero on the clock and the chime don't even ring Bus transfer in my pocket, the one cheap saved-up thing No big speech, no fix, just the hum of the machine And a patch on the table that never once read green
Pre-chorus
Tick... the reader wanted a smile it could sell Tick... and I gave it to a screen like all was well
Chorus
Count it down, count it down till it all read zero Patch on my wrist said I wasn't green enough to go My calm was for rent and the meter ran me slow Count it down, count it down... zero.
Inside the recording
Six-ten bus, window fog, patch in my palm Nineteen hours on the clock and I'm trying to stay calm
Tick, the reader want a smile it can sell Tick, and I'm grinning at a screen like all is well
Count it down, count it down till it all read zero Patch on my wrist said I wasn't green enough to go
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.