Backwards Brick

[Verse 1: Chanting work-song male MC, trowel on the beat]
Thirty-one years with a trowel in my fist
Mortar on the board and a level on my wrist
Butter it, lay it, tap it, cut the bed
String line tight, and the course runs dead
Library steps, I laid every inch
Courthouse wall, didn't flinch, didn't pinch
Ballpark gate where your daddy took you twice
One brick turned around, that's my name, that's my price
Mud in my boots and the sun on my neck
Young boys tapping out while I'm still laying the deck

[Verse 2: Chanting work-song male MC, prouder]
Bank on Main, a young architect came
Clipboard and a tie and a very long name
Pointed at the corner where the rough face showed
Said that's sloppy, tear it out before the inspector's load
Foreman looked at me, then he looked at the kid
Said that man laid half of this town, so I'll leave it like it is
Kid went back to the office mad as a hornet
And the brick stayed backwards on the bank on the corner
Thirty years of buildings and he never let it go
Called it one scar on the cleanest wall in the row

[Bridge: Chanting work-song male MC, brick-and-mud call, crew answering]
Brick
Mud
Brick
Mud
Lay it, tap it, brick
Mud
Lay it, tap it, brick
Mud, mud, mud

[Verse 3: Chanting work-song male MC, full grit]
Thirty years later and my knees are shot
Grandkids drag me downtown to the parking lot
Crowd on the corner by the bank on Main
Bronze plaque bolted with a date and my name
Says the backwards brick, a mason's mark
Kids on a tour going hunting after dark
Library, courthouse, ballpark gate
They find every one, and they tag it, and they wait
That architect retired, I hear he drives by slow
Now his little granddaughter points it out on the road

[Final Hook: Chanting work-song male MC, chanting]
Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine
Thousand by lunch and I'm laying by nine
Every wall in this city got a piece of my spine
Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine

[End]

2396/7500

[Hook: Chanting work-song male MC, chanting] Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine Thousand by lunch and I'm laying by nine Every wall in this city got a piece of my spine Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine [Verse 1: Chanting work-song male MC, trowel on the beat] Thirty-one years with a trowel in my fist Mortar on the board and a level on my wrist Butter it, lay it, tap it, cut the bed String line tight, and the course runs dead Library steps, I laid every inch Courthouse wall, didn't flinch, didn't pinch Ballpark gate where your daddy took you twice One brick turned around, that's my name, that's my price Mud in my boots and the sun on my neck Young boys tapping out while I'm still laying the deck [Hook: Chanting work-song male MC, chanting] Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine Thousand by lunch and I'm laying by nine Every wall in this city got a piece of my spine Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine [Verse 2: Chanting work-song male MC, prouder] Bank on Main, a young architect came Clipboard and a tie and a very long name Pointed at the corner where the rough face showed Said that's sloppy, tear it out before the inspector's load Foreman looked at me, then he looked at the kid Said that man laid half of this town, so I'll leave it like it is Kid went back to the office mad as a hornet And the brick stayed backwards on the bank on the corner Thirty years of buildings and he never let it go Called it one scar on the cleanest wall in the row [Bridge: Chanting work-song male MC, brick-and-mud call, crew answering] Brick Mud Brick Mud Lay it, tap it, brick Mud Lay it, tap it, brick Mud, mud, mud [Verse 3: Chanting work-song male MC, full grit] Thirty years later and my knees are shot Grandkids drag me downtown to the parking lot Crowd on the corner by the bank on Main Bronze plaque bolted with a date and my name Says the backwards brick, a mason's mark Kids on a tour going hunting after dark Library, courthouse, ballpark gate They find every one, and they tag it, and they wait That architect retired, I hear he drives by slow Now his little granddaughter points it out on the road [Final Hook: Chanting work-song male MC, chanting] Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine Thousand by lunch and I'm laying by nine Every wall in this city got a piece of my spine Look for the backwards brick, that one's mine [End]

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