[Intro: cello ostinato alone, floor toms come in hard] [Hook: raging young male MC] Front row, front row, look at you clappin' Eighteen years of nothin', now you wanna watch it happen Put the camera down, you ain't in the picture Front row seat to a show you skipped, mister [Verse 1: tight and angry] Cap and gown, name on the list, I'm walkin' in a minute Look up and there you are, front row, like you was always in it Same face as mine, just older, gray in the beard Gray where my birthdays should've went, every year that you disappeared Every candle I blew out, I wished you'd show, and the wishes got spent You missed the broke arm, missed the first fight, missed the first car, missed the rent Missed the night I learned to shave from a video and bled in the sink Now you got flowers? For who? Man, who you think you bringin' 'em to? Think [Flow switch: double-time, voice shaking] Did you think that I would wave? Did you think that I would cry? Did you practice what you'd say in the car on the drive? Did you tell your new kids 'bout the first one? Did they ask? Did you say that you was busy every fuckin' year? Was that the mask? [Hook: raging] Front row, front row, look at you clappin' Eighteen years of nothin', now you wanna watch it happen Put the camera down, you ain't in the picture Front row seat to a show you skipped, mister [Verse 2: colder, the cello saws harder] They call my name, I'm walkin', and I hear you yellin' it loud Like you own it. Like you named it. Mama named me. You was out Don't you dare say "proud." Proud is a word you gotta pay for Proud is a coat with a receipt, and you ain't never been to that store Shook the principal's hand, and I looked straight past you to the back Back row, last seat, a woman in scrubs with a tired back Came straight from the shift with the badge still clipped to her chest That's my front row. That's my whole life. You can keep the rest [Bridge: spoken, music drops to the cello alone] After, you came over. Put your hand out I looked at it a long time Then I walked right past it, and I hugged her I ain't hate you. I just don't know you [Final Hook: full rage, toms pounding] Front row, front row, look at you clappin' Eighteen years of nothin', now you wanna watch it happen Put the camera down, you ain't in the picture Front row seat to a show you skipped, mister [Outro: cello alone, one tom hit, stop] [End]
