[Verse 1: Ghanaian Twi-accented male MC, bouncing over the highlife guitar riff and bouncing live drums] Ei, chale, I was small, and the library was big Took a book called Start Small, and I hid it like a twig Under my bed, under the mattress, with a torch Read it every night like a gospel on the porch Page one, sell a thing that people need every day So I sold oranges at the junction after school, okay Page two, count your coins and then count 'em twice So I counted every coin and I put 'em on ice Due back in two weeks, said the stamp on the back Chale, two weeks came, and the book stayed in my pack [Hook: Ghanaian MC, handclaps on two and four, shekere shaking hard] Ei, chale, I'm overdue, and I'm payin' every dime Thirty years of ten cents, I am late, but right on time Took a book on startin' small, and I never brought it back I'm overdue, and everything I'm owed is in this sack [Verse 2: Ghanaian MC, faster, the deep bass guitar walking under him] Oranges to bread, and the bread to a van One van to three vans, and the vans to a plan Bakery on Station Road with my name in the glass Ovens goin' four a.m. for everybody who pass And every year I see the book up on the shelf above the door Coffee rings and crayon, and a page my daughter tore My wife says Kofi, take it back, it's thirty years, you know I say I'll take it back, but I am takin' it slow 'Cause the fine is ten cents every day it isn't there And I never skipped a debt, and I'm not startin', I swear So I started droppin' ten cents in a jar on the sill Every mornin' that it's late, and the jar is gettin' full [Hook: Ghanaian MC, handclaps on two and four, shekere shaking hard] Ei, chale, I'm overdue, and I'm payin' every dime Thirty years of ten cents, I am late, but right on time Took a book on startin' small, and I never brought it back I'm overdue, and everything I'm owed is in this sack [Verse 3: Ghanaian MC, coin pour, the jar tipping onto the counter, shekere and guitar rushing with the coins] Monday in the library, the same old wooden floor Same old desk, a younger lady sittin' where the old one sat before Set the book down, set the jar down, tip it on its side Ten-cent coins all down the counter like a river on a ride Eleven hundred dollars, chale, countin' every day And the lady's laughin', sayin' sir, we stopped the fines, okay Years ago we stopped it, you don't owe us anything Ei, I said I owe it, and a debt's a sacred thing So the coins became a shelf in the corner for the small And a little brass plate on it sayin' Kofi, start it all Every kid who takes a book from it can keep it for a while Bring it back when you are big, and bring it back in style [Final Hook: Ghanaian MC, everything, handclaps and shekere doubled] Ei, chale, I'm overdue, and I'm payin' every dime Thirty years of ten cents, I am late, but right on time Took a book on startin' small, and I never brought it back I'm overdue, and everything I'm owed is in this sack [End]
0/500