STATIC BUILT DIFFERENT

[Intro] [Electrical hum. Old television static.] [Archival voice] Remember to use your inside voice. [beat] [very quietly] I did. For thirty fuckin’ years. [bass drops] [Verse 1] I came up small where they taught us “be kind,” Smile for the camera, keep the anger inside. Say please, say thanks, take turns in the line, Meanwhile I’m buildin’ up a charge in my spine. Had to wave at the babies, had to hug every guest, Had a whole lotta thunder underneath this vest. They said, “Use your words.” I DID. They were “yes” and “okay,” While I packed every other word away. Voice stayed high but the pressure got mean, Little red dude with a nuclear spleen. Everybody saw cute, everybody saw sweet— Nobody checked the voltage underneath. I learned A for anger, B for behave, C for the crap that you smile through brave. D for the door when they boarded the place, E for eviction with a grin on my face. You think this spark started yesterday? Please. I been holdin’ lightning since PBS. [Hook] I’m static built different, Spark in the rain, Blue fire crawling up the edge of my name. Little dude, big current, Don’t measure the frame— You see a fuzzy red face. You don’t see the flame. They said saint. I said ain’t. Get the spelling correct. No halo on my head, just a charge in my neck. ’S Ain’t Elmo. Say it clean when you speak. I got thunder in my chest and a motherfuckin’ squeak. [high-pitched] HEE-HEE! [beat stops] What? [Verse 2] Then the cameras went dark and the block got flipped, Old stoop disappeared, whole neighborhood stripped. Where we learned our letters? Boutique café. Fourteen-dollar cookies where the kids used to play. Trash-can corner got “luxury views,” Some developer named the building The Muse. Put Edison bulbs where the old lights hung, Now they call it “authentic” for the wealthy and young. Man, I WAS authentic. I got receipts. I knew every crack in these goddamn streets. They painted over murals, polished the brick, Put a rooftop garden where Oscar talked shit. Now some dude named Bryce got a doodle and a lease Tellin’ me the neighborhood finally got “peace.” Peace? I was peaceful. That was the job. Thirty years smiling like a unionized blob. But you take my block, take the sign, take the set, You gonna learn what they forgot to teach the alphabet: F is for fire. And I ain’t finished yet. [Hook] I’m static built different, Spark in the rain, Blue fire crawling up the edge of my name. Little dude, big current, Don’t measure the frame— You see a fuzzy red face. You don’t see the flame. They said saint. I said ain’t. Apostrophe first. Whole life being nice gave the voltage a thirst. ’S Ain’t Elmo. Yeah, the voice still peaks. I can ruin your whole evening at four thousand hertz. [Spoken interlude] People ask: “Why are you so angry?” [electrical crackle] That is an excellent question. Today’s word is: CONSEQUENCES. Can you say consequences? [background crew] CON-SE-QUEN-CES! Very good. [Verse 3] I don’t need six feet, I make six feet back up, Whole crew go quiet when the little man acts up. Chain got corona, microphone blue, Streetlight starts humming when I walk through. Saint Elmo’s fire on the railings at night, Purple-blue crown when the pressure gets right. Sailors saw the glow and they prayed for the ship— I see that glow? That means somebody talked shit. I don’t throw hands. I throw weather. Pressure differential put the whole block together. Atmospheric charge from the ground to the sky, Hair stand up? That’s your warning. Bye. Deez got swagger and I give him respect, But I was terrorizing bedtime before he could step. He grew up hard? I grew up educational. That’s a whole different kind of psychological. Grown men makin’ me sing about hugs, While I’m standing backstage with legitimate thugs. Cookie twitchin’, Oscar furious, Count off the chain— And me? [high-pitched] ELMO LOVES YOU! Again And again And again and again [beat drops out] You know what repetition does to a man? [Final verse — slower] So when the block disappeared and the rent climbed high, Everybody thought the little red dude would cry. Nah. I got quiet. Quiet gets strange. Started noticing metal when the weather changed. Lamp post humming. Fence glowing blue. Tiny little sparks saying, We remember you. Whole city forgot me? Cool. Let ’em forget. Storm hasn’t broken. I’m charging it yet. You had thirty years of nice. That account is spent. Now every time the air tastes like ozone— That’s rent. [Final Hook] Static built different, Spark in the rain, Saint Elmo’s fire spelling out my name. Little dude, big current, Whole skyline lit— I spent my childhood being nice. I am DONE WITH THAT SHIT. They said saint. I said ain’t. Get the title correct. No halo. No wings. Just voltage and debt. ’S Ain’t Elmo. Small frame. Big heat. And I still got the squeakiest voice on the motherfuckin’ street. [extremely high pitched voice] Goodnight, everybody! [massive electrical discharge]