[Verse 1: Carnatic-trained male lead, rapping hard over huge live drums, mridangam and tanpura drone] Sa ri ga ma, my mother taught me scales on the stairs Vikram taught me everything that grown folks wouldn't share We were seven on the rooftop, callin' first on every kite First slice, first seat, first to get the answer right He called it first on everything, and I just let him win Then I'd beat him to the corner where the corner store begins Eleven years of mornings, same street, same side Him with the newspaper, me with my pride I can see his gray come in, he can see mine We nod at the weather like it's somethin' on the line [Hook: Carnatic lead, long ornaments, huge drums and veena] You were my first friend, now you're a stranger on my street Eleven years of mornings, and we never let 'em meet Sa ri ga ma, I been practicin' the words Whoever says it first, I don't care who's first [Verse 2: Carnatic-trained lead, tighter bars, mridangam rolls under the veena riff] Ta ka, ta ka, that's the rhythm of my feet Walkin' past his window, never missin' a beat We opened up a shop with both our savings in a jar Lost it in a winter, and I said some things that scar I said it was his numbers, he said it was my mouth I took the north side of the street, and he took the south Every night I wrote it out, the sorry in my head Every mornin' passed him, and I swallowed what I said [Hook: Carnatic lead, long ornaments, huge drums and veena] You were my first friend, now you're a stranger on my street Eleven years of mornings, and we never let 'em meet Sa ri ga ma, I been practicin' the words Whoever says it first, I don't care who's first [Bridge: Carnatic-trained lead, gamaka bend on the word sorry, drums and mridangam hitting every syllable around it] So I stepped off of the curb this mornin' with it on my tongue And Vikram stepped off his, and I could see it in his lungs Two men in the middle of the road, the buses goin' round We both said sorry, and the street went quiet, not a sound He thought it was his fault, and I thought it was mine Eleven years we owed each other, and we paid it at one time Ta ka, ta ka, there's a race I finally tied We both went first, and neither of us lied [Final Hook: Carnatic lead, all the way up, full drums, veena and tanpura] You were my first friend, now you're a stranger on my street Eleven years of mornings, and we never let 'em meet Sa ri ga ma, I been practicin' the words Whoever says it first, I don't care who's first [End]
