[Verse 1: Old-school hip-hop male MC, loud and proud, every word punched] Clipboard, lanyard, pencil behind my ear Knocking on your door every ten damn years Knock, knock, who is it, it's the man from the count Open up the door, I need the right amount Grandma in the window says, we don't want none I said, ma'am, it ain't a sale, it's a head for everyone Six in the apartment and two on the couch Baby in the crib, I'mma count her out loud [Pre-Hook: Old-school hip-hop male MC] One, two, three, four, everybody at the door Five, six, seven, eight, I can always count some more [Hook: Old-school hip-hop male MC, shouting it proud] Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts Every head on the block in the final amount If nobody ever knocked on your door, I'm knocking now Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts [Verse 2: Old-school hip-hop male MC, faster, on a mission] Landlord says, the basement? Nobody lives down there Then why's there a hot plate and a folding chair Knocked on the basement, six cousins in a row Kid by the boiler says, mister, do we show I said you show, you count, every single one of you Every name on this paper means the money's coming through Money for the buses and the clinic and the park They don't build a library for people in the dark [Hook: Old-school hip-hop male MC, shouting it proud] Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts Every head on the block in the final amount If nobody ever knocked on your door, I'm knocking now Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts [Bridge: Old-school hip-hop male MC, roll call, shouting names over the drums] Ramirez on the first, Washington, she's here Okafor, Kowalski, with the baby on the stair Nguyen on the third floor, Jackson on the fifth Haddad in the basement, put 'em all on the list [Verse 3: Old-school hip-hop male MC, slower, then rising] Last door on my route is a door I know too well Same building, same hallway, same piss in the stairwell Thirty years ago my mama wouldn't open up Scared of any badge, so we kept the door shut On paper we were three, but there were seven in the place I was a kid the city never had a name or face So I knock on my own door and I hold up the form Write my own name in the box, and I'm finally born [Hook: Old-school hip-hop male MC, shouting it proud] Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts Every head on the block in the final amount If nobody ever knocked on your door, I'm knocking now Everybody counts, and I'm the one that counts [Outro: Old-school hip-hop male MC] Head count, final count, put me down as here [End]
