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Words from the artist’s archive
CONCRETE PRAYER 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
God, if you hear me through the concrete
Verse 1
Learned to count on Sunrise Boulevard, not in no classroom Cousin caught a dime before he caught his cap and gown Humidity got teeth down here, chew you up then spit you south Mama worked the double at Broward General, still lost the lights Forty-dollar Jordans from the flea off Sample Road Uncle talked to himself after the war and nobody helped him I ain't tellin' you I'm tough, I'm tellin' you I'm tired Every block got a memorial with a age that's too young I keep a picture in my wallet I can't look at sober
Pre-chorus
Something heavy comin', feel it pressin' on my chest
Chorus
Still prayin' on concrete, still prayin' on concrete Knees ain't touched carpet since the eviction God don't need a building, I don't need permission Still prayin' on concrete On concrete
Verse 2
Fourteen holdin' a funeral program from Sistrunk Names I used to race bikes with on the obituary page His daughter call me uncle, can't tell her why he gone Buy her shoes in March, the month he woulda turned thirty I-95 overpass got more prayers than any steeple Doc said my pressure high, I said so is my rent Smile at the gas station so nobody ask me nothing 305 got sunshine but the shadows still got weight I'm scared I'm turnin' into someone I been mourning
Pre-chorus
Something heavy breakin', let it crack me open then
Chorus
Still prayin' on concrete, still prayin' on concrete Knees ain't touched carpet since the eviction God don't need a building, I don't need permission Still prayin' on concrete Still prayin'
Verse 3
Drove past my old spot, somebody else curtains in the window Liberty City shop still got my daddy name carved in the chair I talk to the dead more than the living, that's the honest math Store on MLK got bulletproof glass thicker than my faith Learn to read a room before you read a book down here Every intersection smell like somebody last cookout I want to heal but I don't know what that word taste like Been full and been hollow, same zip code both times
Verse 4
Broward taught me subtraction, count who left then who stayed Yoga studio where Miss Velma sold plates on Sunday Condos goin' up, the people goin' out like a trade They renovate the building, can't renovate the grief Every mural just a tombstone with more color on it Rent check the new restraining order for the poor 954 kid holdin' they jaw at the self-checkout Prayin' the card don't decline in front of someone who think less of you
Bridge
I used to think God lived in stained glass buildings Now I think he sittin' on the curb on Flagler Head in his hands Same as me
Chorus
Still prayin' on concrete, still prayin' on concrete Knees ain't touched carpet since the eviction God don't need a building, I don't need permission Still prayin' on concrete, still prayin' on concrete
Verse 5
Wrote this in a parking lot off Commercial Boulevard Mama on the phone not saying much, just breathin' That was enough, that was the whole sermon right there I ain't got the answer, just the address where I keep askin' Concrete remember every knee that ever touched it Maybe that's the church, the ground that held you when the roof wouldn't 954 to 305, the whole stretch sacred ground Not triumphant, just present, tonight that's plenty
Outro
Still prayin' On concrete
Inside the recording
God, if you hear me through the concrete
Something heavy comin', feel it pressin' on my chest
Still prayin' On concrete
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.