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Words from the artist’s archive
HOPE YOU FAIL A LITTLE 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
Verse 1
Same table, same test, same seventeen pages tonight, I explained it twice, and I explained it right. Every point you take is a point coming off of mine - Hope you fail a little. Just a little. You'll be fine. Your pencil stopped on page nine; mine finally came down. I drew the slope, marked both directions, then turned the paper around. You asked if negative times negative really changed the answer. I gave the patient answer I would expect from any friend. No missing step, no clever shortcut, no finger over the key. I even showed the negative sign that actually fooled me. Two coffee circles marked page eleven, side by side. You grinned so wide; I knew you understood it now. I said, "We both can manage this," and meant every word. The stapler closed on seventeen; I kept one private, ugly wish unheard.
Chorus
Hope you fail a little. Not the class. Not your plan. Just one neat wrong answer. Enough to move my name. Just a little. You'll be fine.
Verse 2
At ten last Tuesday, I missed the graph; you stayed behind. You broke it down with little salt packs in a takeout line. No smirk, no timer, no missing piece behind your notes. You gave me each patient step and let me keep the notes. Your mother called twice; you watched the screen, then faced the paper. You need this final for the scholarship that pays next year's paper. I know the closing hours, the midnight bus that drops at twelve. I saw your soaked work sneakers by the bottom shelf. We split the rent, the groceries, the charger by the bed. If you pass, that scholarship continues; we can make the rent. I honestly want your name above the cutoff; that part is honest. I checked your work another time, then circled what you chose. I fixed the final negative sign before you copied clean. Then wished your hand might write the earlier answer on the sheet.
Chorus
Hope you fail a little. Not the class. Not your plan. Just one neat wrong answer. Enough to move my name. Just a little. You'll be fine. Hope you fail a little. I hate how small that sounds. I gave you all I knew, then prayed one piece fell out. Just a little. You'll be fine.
Verse 3
The syllabus allows study pairs through chapter ten. Tomorrow we sit two desks apart; the professor ranks our work. My scholarship stays if an A remains beside my name. A ninety-six for you can move my ninety-four another place. No checkbox asks which one bought toner, which one drew the chart. No score sheet adds a single point because I taught you smart. At noon, the professor posts our names from high to low. Six hours of patient work will not appear beside the score. We split the group-work points; this final has one A. I never hid one method; I gave the clearest steps away. That proves I decided to help you for all six hours. I cannot calculate which hope mattered more inside me. You said, "I owe you"; I said, "Friends don't keep a tab." Then checked the answer key the second you carried out the trash.
Chorus
The stapler's final press came up empty. Both sets of fingers rested together. You said, "Guess we finished it all." I laughed a little early. I cannot say why that empty little click felt close to good news.
Chorus
Hope you fail a little. Not the class. Not your plan. Just one neat wrong answer. Enough to move my name. Just a little. You'll be fine.
Inside the recording
Same table, same test, same seventeen pages tonight, I explained it twice, and I explained it right.
Hope you fail a little. Not the class. Not your plan.
Hope you fail a little. Not the class. Not your plan.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.