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Words from the artist’s archive
I Did Everything Right 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
Forty-seven dollars and I left the meat aisle alone Receipt longer than my last lease agreement Look… I did everything they told me to
Verse 1
Alarm hit, already subtractin’ Rent due first, today the third, grace period rationed like medicine Electric past due, water pressure whisper-thin Three eggs left, toast the heel, call it breakfast again Coffee pot cracked, French press stretchin’ the grounds Drive a car note I resent to a cubicle I tolerate Clock in khakis like my credit ain’t suffocatin’ Forty hours guaranteed, benefits don’t cover a filling Dentist co-pay ate two Tuesdays of living Stackin’ overtime like Jenga on a wobbly table Told my mama I’m stable, she ain’t need to worry Bank app laughin’ every mornin’ in a hurry
Chorus
I did everything right and the fridge still empty Check hit Friday, Tuesday got me stretchin’ pennies Did everything right, who was lyin’ to us? Signed the loans, walked the stage, where’s the stuff they promised? I did everything right, I did everything right Somebody gotta answer, I did everything right
Verse 2
Four years, sixty-two K in a frame on the wall Bachelor’s in communications, I communicate with collections Applied to forty-seven places, heard back from three Two sales, one seasonal, none with salary Pops bought his house at twenty-four on a postal route I’m twenty-seven splittin’ Wi-Fi with a stranger off an app Ain’t mad at the hustle, mad at the math ’Cause the math don’t add when they subtract what they subtract Every paycheck feel like a rough draft Edited heavy before it hit deposit Tax, insurance, garnishment, retirement I can’t touch ’til sixty How I save for later when later already eatin’ me?
Chorus
I did everything right and the fridge still empty Check hit Friday, Tuesday got me stretchin’ pennies Did everything right, who designed it like this? Clocked the hours, paid the loans, still can’t make it fit I did everything right, I did everything right The whole frame crooked, I did everything right
Verse 3
Barber raised his cut five, I ain’t flinch His rent jumped eight hundred, showed me the letter Everybody feelin’ it, Marcus drivin’ Uber full-time Still can’t cover daycare, his girl quit her nine One income, four mouths, car insurance cost more than the car Grocery store faces all tight-jawed, coupons out Choosin’ chicken or detergent, card declinin’ Self-checkout so nobody see you put the fruit back Grown man in a suit did it quiet Tuesday mornin’ This ain’t personal no more, this architectural Blueprint was crooked before we picked up the pencil
Bridge
Three A.M., screen on lowest brightness Scrollin’ the account like it might change Forty-seven dollars for a bag without the meat Same groceries grandma carried home for nine I just wanted to eat That was supposed to be the easy part
Chorus
We did everything right and the fridge still empty Checks hit Friday, Tuesday got us stretchin’ pennies Did everything right, this was never our fault Walked the stage, clocked the hours, gave it all We did everything right, we did everything right We ain’t apologizin’, we did everything right
Outro
Forty-seven dollars Left the meat aisle alone But I came home
Inside the recording
Forty-seven dollars and I left the meat aisle alone Receipt longer than my last lease agreement
I did everything right and the fridge still empty Check hit Friday, Tuesday got me stretchin’ pennies
Forty-seven dollars Left the meat aisle alone
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.