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Yellow Nails 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
Yellow bottle on the dresser, shaking slow like a beat I wrote in the dark
Verse 1
Dawn slices the jalousie slats, gold lines on cold tile, I-95 humming low like a river that never sleeps Brush steady in my grip, filing the free edge clean, no chips, no bleed, just the ritual before the leap Cap and gown on the chair, folded neat like a secret the house keeps for the road Little man in the hallway, phone angled low, catching the glow before the world loads Yellow on the tips, catching the first light, the color of new money, the shade of a page turning slow Against my skin it pops like the streetlights when the block starts to glow, the quiet I own One coat, two coats, third coat letting the edges float and mark the hours nobody sold This the armor I make with no trace of a joke, the proof in the shine before the show
Chorus
Yellow nails say I did that Did it myself from the bottle to the tip, no cap, that's a fact Yellow nails say I did that New chapter loading and I wrote the first act from scratch Yellow nails say I did that I did that, I did that, watch me walk with that Yellow nails say I did that From the dawn to the door, that's the proof I built it back
Verse 2
Graduation morning, the house holding its breath like a prayer on the line, mama's coffee drifting in I paint the curve smooth, no wobble, thinking 'bout the loans stacking quiet, the dreams I still undress in my mind The yellow catching the glow like the way the city wakes slow in the heat, humidity sticking to my skin Little brother in the cut, phone steady, maybe he sees the power in the ritual I call my own, the throne I spin I hum the old melody she used to sing when the lights got cut in the night, 'bout making something from nothing Turning the struggle into strut with no fight, the cat-eye flash in the polish when I tilt my hand just so in the glow A secret in the shine, the kind only the doer knows, they gon' ask who did it when they see the yellow flash on the screen I just smile through the gloss, let the work do the talking, the unseen victory only the mirror will ever know is right
Bridge
Then the phone light blinks from the corner where the shadow stays low He thought I wouldn't notice but the frame caught the way I moved slow Not the color on the nails, the ritual in the alone that felt like power The yellow ain't the trend, it's the proof I built my own in the hour Maybe this glow don't last, maybe the loans still call my name in the quiet But right now the brush is steady and the light is mine, and that's enough for the fight
Chorus
Yellow nails say I did that Did it myself from the bottle to the tip, no cap, that's a fact Yellow nails say I did that New chapter loading and I wrote the first act from scratch Yellow nails say I did that I did that, I did that, watch me walk with that Yellow nails say I did that From the dawn to the door, that's the proof I built it back
Outro
Yellow nails say I did that...
Inside the recording
Yellow bottle on the dresser, shaking slow like a beat I wrote in the dark
Yellow nails say I did that Did it myself from the bottle to the tip, no cap, that's a fact
Yellow nails say I did that...
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.