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Words from the artist’s archive
WHAT TEN CAN DO 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
Verse 1
I do not want a mountain just to photograph the view, I want enough leverage to make the promise move. Ten billion on the ledger, but the number is a door; One keeps the engine breathing, nine walks out the vault. A working mother stretches one meal till the week feels done, A teacher buys the pencils, lets the classroom call it funds. So I am not chasing commas just to hear the zeros cheer; I want money with an exit plan the moment it gets here.
Chorus
I need ten, I can live on one, Nine goes back where the hurt comes from. Not for a throne, not a name in stone, Build the road, then send it home. I need ten, let the math come true: Keep enough to make the mission move, Give away nine, leave proof behind, Let the wealth outlive the one who signed.
Verse 2
One for the people turning motel keys to rent, One for the clinic where a bill becomes a sentence. One for the child with a gift and no address, One for the town where the jobs packed up and left. One for the farmer priced beneath the grocery shelf, One for the founder with the cure but not the wealth. One for clean water, one for roofs that do not leak, One for second chances paid before they have to plead. That is nine billion moving, not a pledge beneath a suit; A number feeds nobody till it crosses into use.
Chorus
I need ten, I can live on one, Nine goes back where the hurt comes from. Not for a throne, not a name in stone, Build the road, then send it home. I need ten, let the math come true: Keep enough to make the mission move, Give away nine, leave proof behind, Let the wealth outlive the one who signed.
Verse 3
Maybe one billion sounds like plenty because it is, Enough to guard the work without becoming what it fixed. I could buy ten islands, teach the ocean my last name, Or buy a million mornings where a family starts again. The richest man is not the one whose gate is hardest to cross; It is the one who turns his gain into somebody else's odds. When the final audit opens, I do not want applause; I want nine missing from my balance, present in the cause.
Chorus
I need ten, I can live on one, Nine goes back where the hurt comes from. Not for a throne, not a name in stone, Build the road, then send it home. I need ten, let the math come true: Keep enough to make the mission move, Give away nine, leave proof behind, Let the wealth outlive the one who signed. Ten made the headline; nine made the difference.
Inside the recording
I do not want a mountain just to photograph the view, I want enough leverage to make the promise move.
I need ten, I can live on one, Nine goes back where the hurt comes from.
I need ten, I can live on one, Nine goes back where the hurt comes from.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.