About the song
A story for this song hasn’t been added yet.
Words from the artist’s archive
GHOST ON MY BLOCK 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
Yeah, walk through here now, don't even recognize it Used to be Miss Thelma's chair by the window, every Saturday Now they selling celery water where we bought loosies Tell me how you gon' improve what you refused to love?
Verse 1
Block don't smell the same no more, that's the first thing hit me Grandma frying fish replaced by lavender and espresso Mr. Ray knew your whole family, let mama run a tab Now the bodega's a juice bar, twelve bucks for celery in a glass Old heads played dominoes right here on this corner Shipped 'em to the county, to couches out of state That new building got the name of the jazz club they demolished They want the sauce without the source, the recipe but not the chef
Pre-chorus
They call it progress but we call it something different You can't improve what you left to die on purpose
Chorus
Ghost on my block, soul got evicted Buildings still standing but the life got lifted They paint our faces on the walls we can't afford Erased us from the story that we wrote
Verse 2
Miss Thelma did hair for forty years in that kitchen Half the women in this hood got their first press in that chair Building sold, new landlord wants her out by the winter She's seventy-three, her husband buried two miles away Law protects property, not the people who made it matter Come back from college and the corner's unrecognizable First kiss, first bike crash, first heartbreak, all erased New neighbors call police 'cause you standing where you always stood
Bridge
Visiting a body at a funeral, shape is right But the life that made it breathe been gone You can mourn what's still standing, trust me Grieving something that ain't dead but don't recognize you back
Pre-chorus
They got the budget now for bike lanes and dog parks Funny how the money show up when the faces change
Chorus
Ghost on my block, soul got evicted Buildings still standing but the life got lifted They paint our faces on the walls we can't afford Erased us from the story that we wrote
Verse 3
Coffee shop got grandma's photo on the wall, she never knew Died in a nursing home thirty miles away, couldn't afford to stay Now she decoration for people sipping oat milk lattes That exposed brick authentic 'cause uncle's sweat still in it They want the culture but they don't want us creating it Twenty-eight dollars for grandma's mac and cheese from YouTube Play our music in the boutique where the record store was Dancing on a grave and don't even know the name on the stone
Bridge
But the soul ain't in the buildings, never was It's in the recipes we carry, stories we tell Drive an hour just to go to the same church You can push us out but you can't kill what we built
Pre-chorus
They want the exhibit, not the artist who made it The style without the stylist, we see through it
Chorus
Ghost on my block, soul got evicted Buildings still standing but the life got lifted They paint our faces on the walls we can't afford Erased us from the story that we wrote
Chorus
Ghost on my block, soul got evicted Buildings still standing but the life got lifted They paint our faces on the walls we can't afford Erased us from the story that we wrote
Outro
Group chat still alive, three states deep now Kids asking what it used to be like, we tell 'em everything Home ain't on a map no more, it's in who remembers They took the block but they couldn't take the us out of us
Inside the recording
Yeah, walk through here now, don't even recognize it Used to be Miss Thelma's chair by the window, every Saturday
They call it progress but we call it something different You can't improve what you left to die on purpose
Group chat still alive, three states deep now Kids asking what it used to be like, we tell 'em everything
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.