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Words from the artist’s archive
ZERO HOUR 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
Three. Two. One. Floodlights up. Carol City to the fifty.
Verse 1
Tape on the knuckles, jaw set like a debt I owe, five A.M. and the gym was a church with the lights down low. They said sit down, son, I ain't catch the memo though, clock up on the wall like a heartbeat, watch it tick and go.
Pre-chorus
Tunnel getting tighter, I can hear the whole sky waiting. Hands ain't even steady, good, that's the part I'm chasing.
Chorus
Zero hour, zero hour, turn the floodlights loud, loud, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, built it at five in a room with no crowd, no crowd, no clock, no flinch, ain't a soul gonna count me out, count me out, zero hour, this the one I been counting down, down
Verse 2
Green flag, kill the mirror, I been built for the contact, every five A.M. I banked is a debt that the game gotta pay back. Doctor said don't, so I autographed the caution, mouthguard in, that's the last quiet thought, then I tossed it.
Verse 3
Knock, knock, that's opportunity dressed like a problem, drop a whole season on one rep and watch a grown man solve it. Cleats in the wet turf, every step a little louder, fifty-four thousand watch a kid become an hour.
Pre-chorus
Same lights, different prayer, and the scoreboard's a confession. Everybody wants the trophy, nobody wants the lesson.
Chorus
Zero hour, zero hour, turn the floodlights loud, loud, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, built it at five in a room with no crowd, no crowd, no clock, no flinch, ain't a soul gonna count me out, count me out, zero hour, this the one I been counting down, down
Verse 4
Down by everything, that's exactly where I live, camera find my face and my face don't never flinch. Every doubter in the building 'bout to learn how to whisper, the bigger the moment the slower it get, and I been here.
Bridge
Cut the music. Listen. Five A.M. is the only crowd that ever told the truth. The trophy's just a witness. Now turn it back up.
Verse 5
Tape still on the knuckles, but the shaking turned to thunder, fifty-four thousand on their feet and I'm the calm up under. Clock hit triple zero and the whole long road's the proof, zero hour, and that empty little room already knew.
Pre-chorus
This the part they'll replay, this the second that I bottled. The lights don't ask you twice, so you answer when you're called.
Chorus
Zero hour, zero hour, turn the floodlights loud, loud, whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, let's go, built it at five in a room with no crowd, no crowd, no clock, no flinch, ain't a soul gonna count me out, count me out, zero hour, this the one I been counting down, five A.M.!
Outro
Zero on the clock. Whoa-oh-oh. Carol City to the fifty.
Inside the recording
Three. Two. One. Floodlights up. Carol City to the fifty.
Tunnel getting tighter, I can hear the whole sky waiting. Hands ain't even steady, good, that's the part I'm chasing.
Zero on the clock. Whoa-oh-oh.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.