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Glass Ceilings 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
Fluorescent lights buzzin' in the break room, same cage every night Clock tickin' slow, tryna kill my light
Verse 1
Punch in at seven, soul dip out by six Boss man countin' minutes like he stackin' his bricks Ma scrubbed these floors 'til her knees gave out Now I'm moppin' the same damn tiles she cried about They swear "pull yourself up," but the ladder fake as hell Every rung I grab turn to dust soon as I inhale Check thinner than the lies they spit in the pitch While corner office niggas look down watchin' us itch
Chorus
Glass ceilings, I see the sky but can't touch it Smudges on the bottom of a world that cost too much shit Glass ceilings, clear as day the game rigged from the jump Built that roof to keep us down, not to hold us up
Verse 2
Scrollin' through the Forbes on a cracked-ass screen Algo feedin' me yachts I ain't never gon' see Kid next door got the full ride, daddy paid the coast One check wrote his future, stamped it, sent it, ghost My transcript look like war stories, three jobs just to eat Kept the lights on, still couldn't pay tuition fees They judgin' us by zip codes 'fore we even speak Destiny decided 'fore we learn to read the street
Bridge 1
Sometimes I wonder if they even see us at all Or just the numbers when we trip and fall Invisible grind, visible walls We built they whole city, now we ghosts in the halls
Verse 3
Nah, I ain't lettin' they blueprint write my ending Every "no" I get, fold it up, turn it to ammunition Grandma cleaned hotels with a doctorate in her past Fled war, raised kings, never let the struggle last So I turn her pain to these bars, make the ceiling a mirror Let 'em see they own scars when they look down here Ain't beggin' for handouts, just want a fair push From the ones preachin' bootstrap but was born in the cush
Chorus
Glass ceilings, I see the sky but can't touch it Smudges on the bottom of a world that cost too much shit Glass ceilings, clear as day the game rigged from the jump Built that roof to keep us down, not to hold us up
Bridge 2
We the foundation they stand on and crack Every generation push harder, never look back One day this glass gon' shatter from the weight underneath And that view they been hoggin' gon' be under our feet
Chorus
Glass ceilings, I see the sky but can't touch it, can't touch it Smudges on the bottom of a world that cost too much shit, too much Glass ceilings, clear as day the game rigged from the jump, never fair Built that roof to keep us down, not to hold us up, yeah, yeah
Chorus
Glass ceilings, I see the sky but can't touch it Smudges on the bottom of a world that cost too much shit Glass ceilings, clear as day the game rigged from the jump Built that roof to keep us down, not to hold us up
Outro
Fluorescent still buzzin', but I hear it different now Ain't no ceiling no more, just a window And I'm breakin' out
Inside the recording
Fluorescent lights buzzin' in the break room, same cage every night Clock tickin' slow, tryna kill my light
Glass ceilings, I see the sky but can't touch it Smudges on the bottom of a world that cost too much shit
Fluorescent still buzzin', but I hear it different now Ain't no ceiling no more, just a window
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.