[Intro, warm soul chop, vinyl crackle, soft harmonized vocal] What's your birthday? (birthday) You answered fast, didn't even think (didn't think)... Now tell me how you know. [Verse 1, smooth double-time chopper, warm and rollin'] You was there, you was the main event, the whole room was about you, and you don't remember a second, not a minute, not a sound, The most personal fact that you own, the day you began, and you never once witnessed it, you was handed it, handed it down, Follow it back, your mother was there, that's a witness, the best one you'll ever get, a nurse or a midwife, a father pacin' the hall, more witnesses, yes, Somebody wrote it down, a form, a clerk, a stamp, a certificate sittin' in a drawer, that's an original, ink on the paper, it's kept, And it fit, your age fit your grade, your grade fit your friends, your baby pictures fit the haircuts of the year, nothin' pull against it, it's set, Chain, witnesses, original, fit, you ran the whole check never knowin' you ran it, somebody ran it for you, and you inherited the answer, it landed, That's borrowed history done right, from the cradle to the kitchen table, I'm grateful, I'm standin' on it, granted... [Hook, sung, descending melody, harmonized, call-and-response echoes] You were handed it (handed it), the day that you began (began), Never saw it with your eyes (your eyes), it was placed into your hands (your hands), The chain and the witness (witness), the paper and the fit (the fit), The most "you" thing you own... and you borrowed it... [Hook, fast chant] Handed it, handed it, candles and cake, the song everybody know, same day, phase-locked at the kitchen table, Borrowed, borrowed, the name and the date, do you remember the day, or remember the tellin', the tellin'... [Verse 2, melodic sing-song chopper bounce, harmonized] Every year the same day, the cake and the candles, the song, Grandma callin', the school sendin' a card, and your phone remindin' your friends, Your license got it, your doctor got it, your bank gon' ask for it to prove you you, synced to every system that ever needed to know you, no end, Try tellin' the DMV your real birthday's in April, that's the lock from the calendar, smaller, a house inside of the house that we in, And the name on top, you ain't pick it, somebody looked at a baby who couldn't talk and decided, you sign it, you turn to it, borrowed again, [Verse 2 continued, switch-up, fastest] Every family got the stories, you got lost at the store, what you said at Thanksgiving at two, the dog knocked you into the pool, you can almost feel the water, But be honest, do you remember the day, or remember the tellin'? Told at enough tables, a story grow its own pictures, the chain is the only road back, you walk it so often the road feel like the place, Friction protected the album, nobody forgin' a photo of you at two in a sweater you never owned, who'd bother, it was safe 'cause it's boring, 'cause fakin' took work, trust protected by effort, that was the base, Now the effort is gone, a child who never existed, a party that never happened, takes seconds, a voice like your Grandma sayin' what Grandma never said, an old photo restored to a face that it never held, A cousin fix up a faded print, an app enhance a blurry one, nobody malicious, twenty years later, which one's in the album, which one get printed for the funeral, can you tell? [Bridge, spoken over soft keys, building] Turn it around. If there's a child in your life, you're their witness, The day they were born, the first word, the first steps, the stories they'll swear they remember, They'll never check. They'll be handed it. By you. Keep the originals, write down the dates, label what was edited, say "I think" when you think, and "I saw" only when you saw. [Hook, sung, descending, harmonized, echoes] You were handed it (handed it), the day that you began (began), Never saw it with your eyes (your eyes), it was placed into your hands (your hands), The chain and the witness (witness), the paper and the fit (the fit), The most "you" thing you own... and you borrowed it... [Hook, fast chant] Handed it, handed it, candles and cake, the song everybody know, same day, phase-locked at the kitchen table, Borrowed, borrowed, the name and the date, do you remember the day, or remember the tellin', the tellin'... [Outro, sung, soul chop fades, beat stops] Somebody handed you your birthday clean (clean), Someday you'll hand someone theirs (theirs), Deduction, intuition, or borrowed? (borrowed) Strong chain... handed down clean.
