South Side Summers

[Verse 1] This is how I grew up on the south side three stoops wide and a dream in the doorway Block parties in the heat grill smoke, boom boxes kids on the curb while the court stayed open late I had what I had made it stretch, made it shine from a cracked front step to the last piece of pie Fought with my brother then laughed at the line by the time the sun fell we were back on the same side [Pre-Chorus] And the park lights came on like they knew our names we ran those lanes we played through the pain [Chorus] This is how I grew up south side, south side This is how I grew up we made it out of wide Out of what was there out of thin air This is how I grew up south side, south side (south side) [Verse 2] Cousins on the corner passing one ball, one story old screen door swinging like it knew our glory Grandma on the porch with the pan and the laugh telling us, baby, keep moving and don’t look back We wore hand-me-down pride in a too-small frame every scar had a nickname every kid had a game Nothing fancy in my pocket but I never felt poor when the whole block sang out through the chain-link roar [Pre-Chorus] And the park lights came on like they knew our names we ran those lanes we played through the pain [Chorus] This is how I grew up south side, south side This is how I grew up we made it out of wide Out of what was there out of thin air This is how I grew up south side, south side (south side) [Bridge] If you ask me where I come from I’ll point to that blacktop the busted hoop the laughing crew the nights we would not stop We were rough around the edges but we learned to hold each other up when the world came cold [Chorus] This is how I grew up south side, south side This is how I grew up we made it out of wide Out of what was there out of thin air This is how I grew up south side, south side (south side)