[Intro: Military-cadence male MC, barked call over the rattling field snare] Left, right, left, right, sound off [Verse 1: Military-cadence MC, barked military-cadence calls over field snare and booming kick] Twenty-two, I had four cards and a sofa on a loan Payday place on Fifth Street and a man who rang my phone Called me at my dinner, called me Sunday mornin' too Every call was "Mr. Hayes, we're lookin' out for you" Wrote the number on my mirror with a marker, big and red Forty-one thousand starin' at me every mornin' out of bed Sold the car and kept the shoes and said "It's you and me, my feet" Four miles there at sunrise, four miles back along the street And I needed somethin' steady I could stomp the whole way through So I made myself a cadence, and I'll sing it now for you [Hook: Military-cadence MC, barked, field snare and handclaps on every line] Sound off, free! Sound off, clear! Nine years marchin' and the zero's finally here Do you read me, bank? Do you read me loud and clear? 'Cause I'm free and clear, I'm free and clear, and I'm out of here [Verse 2: Military-cadence MC, harder, bass guitar riff marchin' under the snare] I don't know but I been told Rice and beans don't ever get old Cut my hair in the bathroom with the clippers and a prayer Friends flew off to beaches, I was marchin' through the square Thirty-three on the mirror, so I wiped it, wrote it new Twenty-four, then seventeen, the red was wearin' through Wore out eleven pair of shoes and hung 'em on a nail Every pair a mile marker, every sole a ragged trail Lady at the bus stop used to laugh when I'd go by Now she's marchin' with me Tuesdays, and she's keepin' up the time I don't know but I been told Every chain gets weak and old [Hook: Military-cadence MC, barked, the whole band stompin' left and right] Sound off, free! Sound off, clear! Nine years marchin' and the zero's finally here Do you read me, bank? Do you read me loud and clear? 'Cause I'm free and clear, I'm free and clear, and I'm out of here [Verse 3: Military-cadence MC, march lock, kick on every left foot and snare on every right as he walks the last payment in] Last payment in an envelope, I'm carryin' it by hand Left, right, to the branch like a one-man marchin' band Lady at the counter stamps it PAID in purple ink Zero on the screen, and I can't even blink Wiped my mirror clean that night and wrote a zero, big and round Slept like a soldier with his boots off on the ground Thursday comes the mail, a gold card with my name "Pre-approved, Mr. Hayes, we miss you, come again" So I marched it to the shredder, left, right, left and right Fed it in a little slow, and I slept again that night [Final Hook: Military-cadence MC, everything in, field snare and kick at full size] Sound off, free! Sound off, clear! Nine years marchin' and the zero's finally here Do you read me, bank? Do you read me loud and clear? 'Cause I'm free and clear, I'm free and clear, and I'm out of here [End]
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