[Intro: tremolo guitar, soft conga] Canvas on the floor so the hardwood stays clean Mural on the brick so the block keeps a scene [Verse 1] Landlord sold the building to a guy who flips for cash Gave us thirty days and a notice with a dash I am halfway through a mural of the faces on this street Mrs. Ortiz with her roses and the kid who mows for cheap Drop cloth on the hardwood like a flag I will not stain Roller in the tray and a ladder I sustain Paint smell in the hallway and a radio on low Oldies station playing something slow enough to know Security walks past and he nods like he is late Says, they are gutting unit four next Friday, do not wait I say, mural gets finished or the cloth does not get rolled He laughs and keeps on walking with a story left untold [Hook: chant with group] Drop cloth, drop cloth Cover what they own Drop cloth, drop cloth Color what we loan Brick remembers faces when the lease forgets the names Paint dries harder than a contract signed in frames Drop cloth, drop cloth Hardwood underneath Drop cloth, drop cloth Stories in the teeth [Verse 2] Night shift on the scaffold of a ladder and a can I am filling in the eyes of a boy who sold the fans Summer heat still stuck inside the plaster of this wall I am racing thirty days like a paycheck in a haul Neighbor brings me coffee in a cup without a lid Says her daughter wants her face in the corner if I did I say, bring a photo and an hour after school I will put her in the roses so the roses keep it cool Landlord's guy comes measuring with a laser and a grin Talks about the open concept like the history is thin I keep painting quiet with the cloth still on the floor Every stroke a sentence they will not be able to ignore [Double-Time Switch: stacked, no commas] Roller tray and an extension pole and a ladder rung and a drop cloth fold and a primer coat and a base layer drying in the hall on the brick by the stair Ortiz roses kid with the lawn mower boy with the fans girl with the photo tape on the corner so the eyes sit right and the light does not trick in the air Lease flip clock on the calendar thirty days minus the nights I already spent and the coffee without a lid and the radio click from the chair I am painting names the paperwork will never hold and the hardwood stays clean while the wall gets thick with a whole block in a flick I prepare [Hook] Drop cloth, drop cloth Cover what they own Drop cloth, drop cloth Color what we loan Brick remembers faces when the lease forgets the names Paint dries harder than a contract signed in frames Drop cloth, drop cloth Hardwood underneath Drop cloth, drop cloth Stories in the teeth [Chopper Burst: triplet bounce, flow switch] Drop cloth snap then the tape then the edge then the cut then the roll then the fold then the push to the wall then the brush in the fist for the line of the face in the space Primer slap then the base then the shade then the light then the eye then the rose then the name then the date in the corner so the block can resign in its place Laser guy with the grin with the plan with the gut with the open concept talk while the mural sits drying like a loan they cannot refine or erase Thirty days on a clock on a lease on a flip on a truck but the faces on the brick are a debt that outlasts every sign and the race [Verse 3] Last night I signed the corner with a letter not a tag Left the drop cloth folded neat inside a contractor bag Morning they will sand and prime and call it a blank start Mural stays until the rain or a crew tears it apart I do not need a gallery and I do not need a grant I need a wall that holds a block when the paperwork says can't [Final Hook] Drop cloth, drop cloth Cover what they own Drop cloth, drop cloth Color what we loan Brick remembers faces when the lease forgets the names Paint dries harder than a contract signed in frames Drop cloth, drop cloth Hardwood underneath Drop cloth, drop cloth Stories in the teeth [Outro: guitar tremolo, spoken] Canvas on the floor so the hardwood stays clean Mural on the brick so the block keeps a scene
