[Intro: guitar weave, horn stab] Cap flips up and the numbers go to sleep Old names still travel in the back seat cheap [Verse 1] Dawn on the rank with the radio talking low I wipe the dash and watch the early taxis go Miss Adjei taught me fractions in a room with no fan Now she rides to clinic with a purse and a plan I flip the meter cap so the digits stay at rest She pays me in groundnuts and a joke she likes best Neighbors call me Kofi like the years did not unfold I smile in the mirror like the boy they used to scold [Pre-Chorus] City wants a receipt for every single mile I keep a softer ledger in my own style [Chorus] Meter cap, meter cap Plastic on the glass Meter cap, meter cap Let the kindness pass Some fares are a paycheck and some fares are a debt Some fares are a teacher you can never quite forget Meter cap, meter cap Click it with a thumb Meter cap, meter cap Hear the engine hum I drive the long way home when the rain begins to lean And nobody is charging for the miles in between [Verse 2] Market auntie packs the trunk with yam and pepper heat Pays me with a story and a bag of something sweet Night nurse from the ward leaves a tip she cannot spare I hand it to the boy who sweeps the rank with care Boss man wants the totals lined neat in a book I show him enough numbers so he does not look Truth lives in the cap and the names I still know From the schoolyard dust to the clinic road slow [Pre-Chorus] City wants a stamp for every honest run I keep the softer math until the day is done [Chorus] Meter cap, meter cap Plastic on the glass Meter cap, meter cap Let the kindness pass Some fares are a paycheck and some fares are a debt Some fares are a teacher you can never quite forget Meter cap, meter cap Click it with a thumb Meter cap, meter cap Hear the engine hum I drive the long way home when the rain begins to lean And nobody is charging for the miles in between [Bridge: horns answer, guitars weave] One night Miss Adjei brought a boy with a cough Said, this is my grandson, take the long way off He asked why the numbers slept under the cap I said, some lessons do not fit on a map [Final Chorus: child choir very low, two short chants only] Meter cap, meter cap Plastic on the glass Meter cap, meter cap Let the kindness pass (kids, very low: meter off, meter off) Some fares are a paycheck and some fares are a debt Some fares are a teacher you can never quite forget Meter cap, meter cap Click it with a thumb Meter cap, meter cap Hear the engine hum (kids, very low: meter off) I drive the long way home when the rain begins to lean And nobody is charging for the miles in between [Outro: guitar weave, soft horn] Cap flips up and the numbers go to sleep Old names still travel in the back seat cheap
