[Intro: solo grand piano, two bars] [Verse 1] I was nine at the bank on Main Street, standing on my toes Turning mortgage into Korean for a man in Sunday clothes I did the landlord and the phone bill and the doctor's form in blue I even did my own report card, and I left out a C or two He would nod at every grown up like the words were all his own Then ask me in the car what they really said, the whole way home [Pre-Chorus] And I'd say, Appa, it's okay I'd make the hard parts small I was nine years old and standing In between him and it all [Chorus] Word for word, I'll get you through Every office, every line I've been your voice since I was nine And you've been the hand in mine Say it slow, I'll say it back Just the way you meant it to Word for word, word for word I'll get you through [Verse 2] Now I'm thirty one in Brooklyn and I'm back on Saturdays For the pharmacy, the warranty, the forms he puts away He still drives the produce truck at four from Hunts Point into Queens Repeating after the radio, the weather and the headlines in between Once I caught him in the driveway saying, could you say that slow And I never told him that I heard, and he never let it show [Pre-Chorus] And I'd say, Appa, it's okay I've got it, like before But I'm thirty one and still the girl Who goes in first through every door [Half Chorus] Word for word, I'll get you through Every office, every line Word for word, word for word I'll get you through [Bridge: piano and voice, strings hold] Tuesday on the seventh floor, the doctor shuts the door She pulls her chair up close to us, and I know what it's for She says a word I know in English, and I know it in Korean too And for the first time since I was nine, I can't get it through I open up my mouth and nothing, nothing comes Then he takes my hand [Spoken: gentle older man, slow English] I know. I learned this part. [Bridge: sung, building] He says it in English, slow and clear, with that accent that I love Let me carry this one, you be my daughter, that's enough [Final Chorus: key change up] Word for word, he got me through All those mornings in the truck Every sentence that he practiced For the day that I got stuck I've been his voice since I was nine Tonight he spoke for two Word for word, word for word He got me through [Outro: solo piano, whispered] I know, I learned this part Word for word
