The First Clean Page

Lyrics

[Intro] Your old address is folded in the drawer A brownstone nameplate doesn’t fit you anymore The courthouse steps, the winter coats, the stare You leave that careful silence sitting there [Verse 1] Cousin Frankie kept the ledger by the stove Red pencil marks on every debt he owed The neighborhood knew when the doors went shut And how a quiet promise could be dangerous You learned to read a room before you spoke To count the cost beneath a family joke Now Sunday finds you fixing up the place With borrowed tools and daylight on your face [Chorus] You can put the old life down You can choose what carries on No more names passed hand to hand You make your own tomorrow stand [Verse 2] Your daughter asks why Grandpa never came You tell the truth without dressing up the shame A box of letters, one worn photograph The years don’t disappear, but you can change the path You take a late shift, save for something small A clean front window, fresh paint on the wall No oath, no favor waiting in the wings Just honest work and all the breath it brings [Bridge] Let the old block keep its stories Let the morning have its say You are more than what you carried You can set it down today [Chorus] You can put the old life down You can choose what carries on No more names passed hand to hand You make your own tomorrow stand [Outro] A key turns once in a door you chose The first clean page, the first thing that grows