[Verse 1: R&B powerhouse female lead, belted, punchy kick] Eleven at night to seven in the mornin' Twenty-eight years of the babies with no warnin' County General, fourth floor, the lights are low I'm the first face every one of 'em know Mamas sleepin' and the daddies in the hall I'm the one who answers every single call Swaddle 'em tight and I hum 'em a tune And I hand 'em back to the world by noon [Pre-Chorus: R&B powerhouse female lead, rising] You don't know my name and that's alright I knew yours before you ever saw the light [Chorus: R&B powerhouse female lead, full force, bright guitar riffs] I had you first Before the world could tell you what you're worth Before the bills, before the hurt I had you first [Verse 2: R&B powerhouse female lead, belted, round bass] Every June I go and sit in the stands Graduation, with a program in my hands Nobody knows me, I'm the lady in the back Countin' up the faces that I held in a stack That one came early and he barely made a sound That one had a temper, turned the whole floor around That girl in the front was a twin, the smaller one And I prayed over her till the mornin' sun [Chorus: R&B powerhouse female lead, full force, bright guitar riffs] I had you first Before the world could tell you what you're worth Before the bills, before the hurt I had you first [Bridge: R&B powerhouse female lead, slower, tight snare] Then the top kid walks up to the microphone Jamal from the winter I worked alone Says the first hands to hold me in this life Belonged to a nurse on the night shift, Odessa Grant, that's right [Verse 3: R&B powerhouse female lead, belted, grit growl on the rise] She held half of you, so stand up if you know And the whole class rises in a long slow row Caps in their hands and they're turnin' around Lookin' for the lady and they find me in the crowd I've been holdin' strangers for my whole career Never thought a single one would see me here So I stand up too with my tissues and my purse And I sing it back to them, I had you first [Chorus: R&B powerhouse female lead, full force, bright guitar riffs] I had you first Before the world could tell you what you're worth Before the bills, before the hurt I had you first [Outro: R&B powerhouse female lead, full force, round bass] Stand up, stand up, every one I held Every tiny fist and every midnight yell I had you first, and I'd do it again Every night shift, every one of them [End]
