[Intro: tambourine, one church piano chord, choir hums] Can I get a witness? Sister June, sing [Hook: female vocalist sings, choir answers] Pass the plate, pass the plate (pass it on) Every dollar is a prayer, and every prayer goes up to him (pass it on) Heaven takes a tenth, and heaven never checks the math Pass the plate, pass the plate, Reverend keeps the rest of that [Verse 1: male MC, booming sermon cadence] Brothers and sisters, the Lord loves a cheerful giver I seen you foldin' up that twenty with a sigh and a shiver Mill town dyin' and the river runnin' brown Who you gonna call when the last plant shuts down? [Flow switch: fast low mutter, to you] Real talk, I was sellin' knives door to door in eighty-eight, and I learned the only thing that sells is fear and a deadline and a plate Bought the tent off a carnival, the collar off a rack, and a Bible at a yard sale with a coffee ring on the back [Back to the sermon, booming] Is there a widow in the house tonight? Bring it to the rail Every dollar is a seed, and, sister, seeds don't fail [Aside, low] They fail every week. That's why there's always one more Sunday [Hook: female vocalist, choir answers] Pass the plate, pass the plate (pass it on) Every dollar is a prayer, and every prayer goes up to him (pass it on) Heaven takes a tenth, and heaven never checks the math Pass the plate, pass the plate, Reverend keeps the rest of that [Verse 2: sermon and aside trade every line] [Sermon] Look at Sister Dot, gave the coffee can from under her bed [Aside] Paid off half my boat. Named the boat after Dot instead [Sermon] When the healin' don't come, it's 'cause your faith was wearin' thin [Aside] When it fails, that's on them. When it works, that's on Him. Either way, I win [Sermon] Every Sunday Sister June sings it like a storm comin' in [Aside] Best voice in four counties, never took a dollar for the hymn She the one that walks the plate back to my office after church Counts it with me, smiles, and leaves without a dime in her purse [Flow switch: half-time, smug drawl] I don't trust a soul alive, not a deacon, not my kin But I gave June the combination. Lord, she's sweeter than sin [Bridge: drums out, piano, choir hums, spoken] Every head bowed. Every eye closed Now reach down in that pocket. Deeper That's it. That's the Spirit [Aside, low] Lord, this shit pays [Key Change: up a whole step, choir explodes, drums double] [Verse 3: preacher, double-time, triumphant] Hallelujah, pass it down the row, down the pew, down the aisle, every pocket, every purse, every jar for the orphans, Lord, I'm sweatin' through the robe I'm a shepherd with a ledger and a lake house and a boat, and every sinner in this tent is one more dollar in my coat Twenty years of Sundays and I never once got caught 'Cause a con ain't a con when they thank you for the thought [Final Hook: female vocalist, up a key, full choir] Pass the plate, pass the plate (pass it on) Every dollar is a prayer, and every prayer goes up to him (pass it on) Heaven takes a tenth, and heaven never checks the math Pass the plate, pass the plate, and watch who carries it back [Outro: choir fades, a safe swings open] [Male, spoken] June? Safe's empty [Female, spoken] Heaven took a tenth, Reverend [Female, spoken] I took the math
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