[Intro: talking drum calls, highlife guitar answers] [Hook: melodic rap, gritty male] Every hard year, you was harder than the year Every time I hit the floor, I looked up, and you was here I ain't got a ring big enough to say it right So I'ma say it the loudest way I know tonight [Verse 1: gritty, in the pocket] Lost the job in March, then I lost the car in May Lost my pride in a line by June, and you stayed You took a second shift and never once said "second" Counted rent in quarters on the bed and called it a blessin' I was ugly to you then, and I ain't cleanin' it up for the song Slammed doors, slept on the couch, every word I said came out wrong You ain't flinch. You set the table, two plates, every night Even when I didn't come to it, my plate sat there in the light [Flow switch: double-time, low] You held the lease, held the phone when the bill man called Held my head in the bathroom when I couldn't stand at all Held the kids' hands crossin' every street that I was scared of Held it all, and never once asked me what I was made of [Hook: melodic rap] Every hard year, you was harder than the year Every time I hit the floor, I looked up, and you was here I ain't got a ring big enough to say it right So I'ma say it the loudest way I know tonight [Verse 2: harder, the talking drum pushes] They talk about love like roses, like a slow dance at a weddin' Love was you sellin' your grandmama's ring and swearin' you just misplaced it Found the pawn ticket in your coat on a Tuesday, sat down in the closet Cried like a kid in the dark with your sweaters, then I got up and I bought it Took me four months, every dollar from the side jobs and the night work Don't look at me. Look at your hand. Yeah. That's what it's worth I ain't a poet, I'm a man who fell and got picked up Every hard year, you was the hand, and I was the cup [Guitar solo: highlife guitar, four bars, the drums hit harder] [Verse 3: double-time, fierce] So let 'em talk about the good years, talk about the easy ones I'll take the hard ones with you, every bill and every bleedin' sun I don't need a better year, I need you in the next one too Every hard year comin', bring it. I got you [Final Hook: full band, talking drum wild] Every hard year, you was harder than the year Every time I hit the floor, I looked up, and you was here I ain't got a ring big enough to say it right So I'ma say it the loudest way I know tonight [Outro: talking drum alone, one guitar chord, stop] [End]
