[INTRO — instrumental, hard piano stabs, slow 808 glide] [VERSE 1 — tight flow, low and steady] New badge with my last name spelled right (right) New break room with the same old microwave light New supervisor younger than my little cousin Calls me champ — I been working since he wasn't Orientation video from 2003 Lady in it probably retired, same as my dignity But I clock in early, learn the system, learn the floor Twenty years of knowing things they don't pay for My old title fit inside a layoff email Two lines and a comma, that's how they regale Twenty years of me — whatever, that's the past This badge says new, but this man was built to last [HOOK — chant it, head high] New badge, old hands (old hands) Still got every tool in the plan They can cut the title, they can't cut the man New badge, old hands New badge, old hands (watch me) First day like it's day one again They can change the logo, they can't change the hands New badge, old hands [VERSE 2 — double-time burst, controlled] Lunch at eleven-fifteen, sitting with the temps Kids asking me for advice like I'm the building's sense Funny how experience is free when they need it And too expensive every time that they don't need it I don't carry it bitter, that's the trick nobody teach You can lose the chair and never lose the reach Benefits kick in in ninety, I'll be here in ninety-one Still standing when the counting's done [BRIDGE — beat drops to piano, voice close and low] My daddy wore a badge that nobody could see Showed up every morning, that was his whole résumé So I pin this plastic on like it's my father's watch It don't shine much — it just doesn't stop [HOOK — chant it, head high] New badge, old hands (old hands) Still got every tool in the plan They can cut the title, they can't cut the man New badge, old hands New badge, old hands (watch me) First day like it's day one again They can change the logo, they can't change the hands New badge, old hands [OUTRO — piano stabs fade, voice dry] Clock in, clock out Name spelled right (old hands)
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