One Honest Step

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Bus pass folded in the pocket of my coat Rain on the timetable, ink running off the note Mama said, “Keep your word when the room gets loud” So I learned to speak plain, never beg from a crowd Corner store clerk knew my name and my tab I paid it back in full with the first check I had Old heads played chess by the laundromat door Each move made a point that a lecture ignored I watched my block trade patience for speed Saw a good mind get priced by a temporary need Now I write what I saw, leave the pose at the gate If the truth walks slow, let it show up late [Chorus] Keep your feet on the ground, keep your eyes on the page Build a little more room than the room that you made If we carry each other, we can carry the weight One honest step at a time, that’s a way out the gate [Verse 2] My friend took the night shift, still made the school run Kept a library card in the glove box for his son That’s a quiet kind of rich no billboard can sell A warm meal split four ways, everybody eats well I’ve seen pride turn a doorway into a wall Seen one real apology change the whole hall We don’t need a crown just to stand up straight We can name what is broken and still choose to create So I count every promise, not the likes or the noise Put the tools in the hands of the girls and the boys Let the next one ask questions we were told not to ask Make a future with a face, not a slogan or mask [Chorus] Keep your feet on the ground, keep your eyes on the page Build a little more room than the room that you made If we carry each other, we can carry the weight One honest step at a time, that’s a way out the gate [Bridge] No shortcut past the work, no medal for the strain Just a door held open in the middle of the rain When the young ones look back at the choices we made Let them find something sturdy, not a debt unpaid [Final Chorus] Keep your feet on the ground, keep your eyes on the page Build a little more room than the room that you made If we carry each other, we can carry the weight One honest step at a time, that’s a way out the gate [Outro] One honest step Then another one