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Words from the artist’s archive
LAST HONEST DOLLAR 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
Four-thirty Palmetto, headlights leakin' rain, Carol City window fogged, same God, same name.
Verse 1
NW 79th, bus stop wet at five, Lauderhill mattress, two jobs keep the lights alive, Roofer hands, concrete dust under the nail, Publix line stretched longer than the rent's exhale, Both parties talkin', neither one signed my check, Liberty City corner store, the same respect, I-95 brake lights tellin' the truth out loud, Worker bones built every district they disavow.
Chorus
Last honest dollar, last honest hand, Clock card my only ballot ever cashed in this land, They speak for the worker, then sleep with the bank, Fourteen sixty-two my whole vote, signed and stamped. Last honest dollar, last honest pour, Opa-Locka headlights I been chasin' since I'm four, Both sides forget me when the cameras go dark, Time card my prayer, every punch is a mark.
Verse 2
Daughter's tuition email at 4:32 AM, Lauderhill rent twenty-four hundred, due again, Knees swollen from the ladder, back a metal song, Insurance hold music ringin' three hours long, Voted blue, voted red, both wore the same suit, Little Haiti uncle said "vote with your boots," Allapattah warehouse where the dawn shift begin, You gon' learn what a man is when the gas tank thin.
Chorus
Last honest dollar, last honest hand, Clock card my only ballot ever cashed in this land, They speak for the worker, then sleep with the bank, Fourteen sixty-two my whole vote, signed and stamped. Last honest dollar, hard hat tilt, Overtown rooftop where the city was built.
Verse 3
Mirror in the break room, fluorescent on my face, Forty-seven years old, still chasin' minimum wage, Saw my daddy's hands inside my own this week, Same calluses, same silence, same union he speak.
Verse 4
Brownsville, Goulds, Florida City stand up, Party of the people ain't filed the damn paperwork, Lobbyist suit money in a worker-flag mask, We the bricks they been countin', never the hands they ask, Perrine to Pompano, every porch a witness stand, Receipt tape in my wallet thicker than the campaign plan, You want my vote? Show me healthcare under three bills, Show me homes in the city my grandmother built.
Chorus
Last honest dollar, last honest hand, Clock card my only ballot ever cashed in this land, They speak for the worker, then sleep with the bank, Fourteen sixty-two my whole vote, signed and stamped. Last honest dollar, last honest crew, Carol City to the Turnpike, this for me and you.
Verse 5
Daughter, listen close, when the politicians smile, Watch the hand they shake, watch the dollar in the file, Don't vote for the slogan, vote for the rent receipt, Vote the ladder under every workin' feet, Eviction notice taught me more than any speech, Power's in the pocket of the people that they reach.
Outro
Four-thirty Palmetto, the city wakin' up, Last honest dollar, last honest cup.
Inside the recording
Four-thirty Palmetto, headlights leakin' rain, Carol City window fogged, same God, same name.
Last honest dollar, last honest hand, Clock card my only ballot ever cashed in this land,
Four-thirty Palmetto, the city wakin' up, Last honest dollar, last honest cup.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.