About the song
A story for this song hasn’t been added yet.
Words from the artist’s archive
LIMESTONE 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
They told us build here. Said the ground was solid.
Verse 1
Grandma bought the crib in '74, paid cash Three bedrooms off Sistrunk, porch swing, St. Augustine grass Foundation cracking like her knuckles after church Water bill got a line I can't even research Salt in the tap, taste it, that ain't chlorine Aquifer bleeding, the ocean intervening She scrubbed the tub ring every Tuesday for a year 'Fore they said that's limestone pushing calcium here Built a life on ownership, what they preached Now what she own dissolving at the hip Insurance jumped to four thousand overnight Citizens dropped us, risk too high
Pre-chorus
Tide creep closer every year We just keep mopping, just keep mopping
Chorus
Ground ain't solid, ground ain't solid Built my whole life on limestone logic Told me own it, told me hold it Salt keep rising and we can't stop it LIMESTONE, yeah, LIMESTONE Everything we stood on turning soft
Verse 2
I-95 flooded, ain't even hurricane King tide Tuesday in October, new terrain Cousin got a sinkhole in Opa-Locka yard Swallowed the shed, the mower, half her daughter's dolls Sinkholes in the hood ain't news, just Thursday FPL want six hundred for four hundred watts HOA talking coastal resilience fees Seawall for the beach, not for us on 22 No pump for Sistrunk, no pump for Liberty Just drainage for the money, not the memory
Pre-chorus
Tide creep closer every year We just keep mopping, who we mopping for?
Chorus
Ground ain't solid, ground ain't solid Built my whole life on limestone logic Told me own it, told me hold it Salt keep rising and we can't stop it LIMESTONE, yeah, LIMESTONE Everything we stood on turning soft
Verse 3
Mama said the house was my inheritance Appraisal worth less than what she owe Flood zone redrawn, we inside the red Insurance mandatory, fourteen K the quote Car note every year just to keep a roof She said baby I can't leave what's here That's the part they never write, you hear me? Not the leaving, it's your mama choosing debt So you got somewhere warm to sit on Christmas Porch light keeps shorting, fixed it twice Salt air eat the wiring, eat the screws Eat the prayers right out her mouth
Verse 4
They knew the '90s about the saltwater line Corps wrote the study, filed it, let it die Developers kept pouring on the coral Condo on the coast worth more than moral Brickell forty stories on a sponge Selling views to Toronto by the month 79th got mold in every wall Water pushing through cracks you can't see My taxes keep the beach towns pumped and dry Nobody pumping for us, wonder why
Bridge
Put my hand on Grandma kitchen floor last Sunday It was wet. No pipe. No storm. Just the ground giving back what it borrowed What you do when the earth say you can't stay?
Chorus
Ground ain't solid, ground ain't solid Built my whole life on limestone logic Told me own it, told me hold it Salt keep rising and we can't stop it LIMESTONE, yeah, LIMESTONE Everything we stood on turning soft
Verse 5
Ain't got solutions, ain't running for office Just know my grandma floor is wet, nobody offered To explain what's underneath in plain words Porous rock, borrowed time that won't reverse I write it 'cause if nobody rap the limestone then it stay behind the pipeline behind the ballot behind the code behind the drone shots they pitching Every crack in every tile, I remember That house held more than any tower they building That house held us
Outro
LIMESTONE.
Inside the recording
They told us build here. Said the ground was solid.
Tide creep closer every year We just keep mopping, just keep mopping
LIMESTONE.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.