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Breath on a Mirror 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
Steam on the glass, August won't quit Carol City, 4 a.m., gold on the lip of the sink
Verse 1
Wipe the mirror with a towel, watch it cloud right back Forty-dollar fade, line so clean it could crack Chain say I'm somebody, twenty grams on the neck Heat off the Palmetto turn the chrome into sweat Mama perfume in the hall, church shoes by the door Twenty-seven Ave hummin' like it keep the score I look fresh in the fog for a second or two Then the fog eat the face like the face never grew
Pre-chorus
And I swear I was somebody right there in the glass Brickell lights sayin' last, like the last gonna last
Chorus
It's a breath on a mirror, watch it go, watch it go Gold on the sink and the fog on the chrome Wrote my name in the steam, it was gone 'fore I'm home Vapor, vapor, that's all, that's all Forty floors of glass and they all gon' fall Breathe on it, gone... breathe on it, gone
Verse 2
Rent due Friday but the fit cost a check Likes on the post but the post don't pay rent I-95 north and the city behind glass Every tower a mirror sayin' you don't got cash Liberty City sunset, orange on the tin Opa-Locka domes where the heat seal you in Carry the chain like the chain carry me too Twenty grams of applause and it still turn blue
Verse 3
Caught my own eyes in the cloud and they ask me a thing Who you dress for, who you stress for, what the mirror really bring I said I'm the realest. (nah)... real for the night Real till the steam clear up and the light hit it right Vanity look like me, my jaw, my gold Same face the casket close, same name on the stone
Pre-chorus
And I swear I was somebody right there in the glass Now the glass showin' truth and the truth movin' fast
Chorus
It's a breath on a mirror, watch it go, watch it go Gold on the sink and the fog on the chrome Wrote my name in the steam, it was gone 'fore I'm home Vapor, vapor, that's all, that's all Forty floors of glass and they all gon' fall Breathe on it, gone... breathe on it, gone
Verse 4
So I square up with the vapor, look it dead in the lens Take the chain off the neck, hold it light in my hands You don't own me, applause, you a clap then a hush You a number on a screen that the mornin' gon' brush Wynwood wall in the day, by the night it repaint Every king on the block just a fog 'fore he faint I ain't dyin' for a glow that a breath wipe clean Gon' live in the room, not the shine on the screen
Bridge
Forty-dollar fade for a face the heat erases. Same repast, same foil pans, same faces. Grandmama said vanity, then Grandmama said grace. We all just steam on the glass for a breath of a space. So breathe somethin' good 'fore it lift off the chrome.
Verse 5
Lil cousin in the mirror tryna match my chain I said keep the gold light, learn the weight of a name It's a breath on the glass, what you write is the part Not the fade, not the fog, what you leave in a heart Carol City raised steam and the steam raised me Now I fog up the glass with a why, not a need Write somethin' that stay when the mirror go clear Loudest thing in the room when the vapor disappear
Pre-chorus
So I swear I'll be somebody past the face in the glass Brickell still sayin' last, but I know what gon' last
Chorus
It's a breath on a mirror, watch it go, watch it go Gold on the sink and the fog on the chrome Wrote my name in the steam, it was gone 'fore I'm home Vapor, vapor, that's all, that's all Forty floors of glass and they all gon' fall Breathe on it, gone... breathe on it, gone
Outro
Gold on the sink. Fog on the chrome. Breathe somethin' good. Then go.
Inside the recording
Steam on the glass, August won't quit Carol City, 4 a.m., gold on the lip of the sink
And I swear I was somebody right there in the glass Brickell lights sayin' last, like the last gonna last
Gold on the sink. Fog on the chrome. Breathe somethin' good. Then go.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.