About the song
A story for this song hasn’t been added yet.
Words from the artist’s archive
RESTORED 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
Welcome back. The block. Restored.
Verse 1
Landlord's letter on the table, folded twice, still warm Mama read it like the words could lose a coming storm Twenty-nine fifty a month, thirty days, a stranger's pen Tape gun screaming down the boxes, sealing school years in "Kayla, K through two." "Marcus, fourth grade." marker on the side Radiator banging like it's begging us to stay inside Knew the buzzer's rhythm, knew the 4 train shake the glass Nine years old and learning what a lease will not let pass
Pre-chorus
Now I log back in where the rent came due And the walls remember more than I told them to
Chorus
Restored, restored, I bought the whole block back Marker still says Kayla, fourth-grade box, in black Paid the past in money that the young me never had Got the door I lost at nine, behind the screen, and that's Restored
Verse 2
Headset boots, the hallway paints itself in kinder light Same tile, cleaner grout, a neighbor I invented says goodnight Missus Alvarez waters plants she never got to own They gentrified my ghosts, put a cafe where we loaded home Floors don't creak, no mail, no bill, wrong kind of still I can walk it all I want, palm against the wall Touch a place that touches nothing, that's the trick of it all
Pre-chorus
Now I log back in where the rent came due And the walls remember more than I told them to
Chorus
Restored, restored, I bought the whole block back Marker still says Kayla, fourth-grade box, in black Paid the past in money that the young me never had Got the door I lost at nine, behind the screen, and that's Restored
Verse 3
Pop said fight it, Mama said the cheaper city's calling Kitchen light kept flickering above a number falling Me and Kayla cornered with a borrowed headset on Built a house inside a phone the year that ours was gone Never caught the irony was loading while we played Learning how to leave the room the rent already weighed Cardboard for a table, last night spent on the floor Heard them through the wall decide we could not stay no more
Bridge
Found a bug, a locked door blinking in the code "Unlock the memory," a fee to watch us pack and fold They sell me back the worst night like a level I can clear (whisper) Restored the block, the lock still knows my name down here
Verse 4
I paid it, course I paid it, card declined twice, then flew Watched nine-year-old me carry what I'd give the world to undo Grief behind a paywall, pay-per-view my own collapse Little me folding the sheets, zipping up the duffel bags Hands shaking on the controller like the cold came back U-Haul off the curb, rendered down to clean and grey And I clapped, God help me, something in my chest just clapped Like I finally won a fight I lost before it happened
Verse 5
So I bought it permanent, deed to a world that is not there Logged my daughter in, I told her, "baby, this is home, right here" She asked me where the real one went, I said it's complicated Watched her run a hallway that her grandmother evacuated Gave my kids a block that can't evict, can't flood, can't raise the rent Stable as a server, real as every dollar I spent She loves it, that part keeps me staring at the ceiling Raised her in a memory and called the lie a feeling
Pre-chorus
Now I log back in where the rent came due And the walls remember more than I told them to
Chorus
Restored, restored, I bought the whole block back Marker still says Kayla, fourth-grade box, in black Paid the past in money that the young me never had Got the door I lost at nine, behind the screen, and that's Restored
Outro
Restored the block, but the lock still knows my name
Inside the recording
Welcome back. The block. Restored.
Now I log back in where the rent came due And the walls remember more than I told them to
Restored the block, but the lock still knows my name
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.