Do The Math [Intro — lone acoustic guitar, fiddle enters bar 3, courthouse hum low] [acoustic guitar riff x4] [fiddle enters bar 3] [dobro slide low] [courthouse ambient hum underneath] [Verse 1 — cold factual southern drawl, receipts stacked clean] Johannes Mehserle Transit cop Oakland train platform Oscar Grant face down on the ground Already cuffed Shot him in the back Said he meant to grab his taser Jury bought it Involuntary manslaughter Two years Two years He was out in eleven months Oscar Grant was twenty two He did not get eleven months He got a casket Now hold that number Two years We coming back to it [Pre-Chorus — fiddle rises, 808 kick doubles, trap hi-hats tighten] Now Amber Guyger Dallas officer Walked into Botham Jean's apartment Shot him dead in his own home Said she thought it was hers Murder Ten years Ten years for walking into a man's home and killing him in his own chair Hold that number too We building the math [Chorus — 808 drops hard, banjo chop stabs, fiddle over trap, cold and wide] ERIC BRANDT GOT TWELVE YEARS FOR WORDS MEHSERLE GOT TWO FOR A BODY GUYGER GOT TEN FOR A MURDER IN A MAN'S HOME DO THE MATH DO THE MATH WORDS ON A PHONE TWELVE YEARS A MAN IN HIS CHAIR DEAD TEN YEARS DO THE MATH SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THE MATH [Drop 1 — 808 hard, banjo stab chops, fiddle riff, courthouse hum rises] [808 drop hard] [banjo chop x4] [trap hi-hat roll] [fiddle riff over bass] [courthouse hum rises] [breathe cold] [Verse 2 — more receipts, drawl stays cold, compounding] Aaron Dean Fort Worth Atatiana Jefferson Twenty eight years old Babysitting her nephew Playing video games Cop walked around the back of the house Shot her through the window From outside The boy was eight He watched her fall Manslaughter Eleven years ten months Under twelve Under what Eric Brandt got For words Now look at Lane and Kueng Minneapolis Held George Floyd down While Chauvin put his knee on his neck Aiding and abetting manslaughter Three years Three and a half years For holding a man down while he died calling for his mother Three years Eric Brandt got twelve For words on a phone Three years For holding a dying man to the ground Do the math Somebody do the math [Pre-Chorus — dobro slides hard, snare tightens, verdict arriving] I am not saying these men deserved nothing I am saying the scale that gave Eric Brandt twelve years is the same scale that gave those numbers and I want somebody to explain to me how that weighs out [Chorus — fuller harder, orchestra locked, every element burning] ERIC BRANDT GOT TWELVE YEARS FOR WORDS MEHSERLE GOT TWO FOR A BODY GUYGER GOT TEN FOR A MURDER IN A MAN'S HOME DO THE MATH DO THE MATH WORDS ON A PHONE TWELVE YEARS A MAN IN HIS CHAIR DEAD TEN YEARS DO THE MATH SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THE MATH [Drop 2 — hardest drop in the track, 808 and fiddle collision, banjo stabs wide] [massive 808 drop] [fiddle surge over trap] [banjo stab x6] [dobro slide bar 4] [one beat silence] [full return cold and wide] [Bridge — harmonica and dobro only, bare and direct] Convicted officers who kill people average around six years according to Bowling Green research Six years on average For killing Eric Brandt said things wrong things ugly things about judges and got twelve You want to know what the scale is calibrated to it is not calibrated to harm done it is not calibrated to lives lost it is calibrated to who the system decides to fear Words that challenge power cost more than bodies that confirm it Write that down Do the math Do the math [Final Chorus — every element, harmonica under the mix, full hick-hop locked hard] ERIC BRANDT GOT TWELVE YEARS FOR WORDS MEHSERLE GOT TWO FOR A BODY GUYGER GOT TEN FOR A MURDER IN A MAN'S HOME DO THE MATH DO THE MATH WORDS ON A PHONE TWELVE YEARS A MAN IN HIS CHAIR DEAD TEN YEARS DO THE MATH SOMEBODY EXPLAIN THE MATH [Outro — acoustic guitar returns alone, harmonica holds one note, fades cold] [acoustic guitar riff x4] [harmonica single note holds] [fiddle fades bar 3] [silence] [one acoustic note] [the math sits there]
