[Intro: organ swells, piano gospel chords, a bus kneels with a hiss] [Hook: soaring powerful male soul singer] Out of service, Mama, let the engine rest You carried this whole city, now let me carry the rest Turn the sign around, the last stop is home Out of service, Mama, you ain't ridin' alone [Verse 1: proud male rapper, steady] Twenty-two years on the Number 9, five a.m. to the last light Coffee in the cup holder, little cross on a string swingin' right I did homework in the front seat, rode the loop three times a night Learned every street in this city 'fore I ever learned to ride a bike Drunks, nurses, kids with no fare, she let 'em on with a look Old men with the shakes, she waited, didn't care how long it took Rent was always one route short, so she drove the extra one Came home with her hands still curled like the wheel, steerin' in her sleep 'til the sun I used to duck down in the back so the kids at school ain't see Now I say it in every room: she drove this city, and she drove it for me [Hook: soaring male soul singer] Out of service, Mama, let the engine rest You carried this whole city, now let me carry the rest Turn the sign around, the last stop is home Out of service, Mama, you ain't ridin' alone [Verse 2: harder, the organ grinds] Last day, I'm at the first stop in a suit, standin' in the cold Paid my fare in quarters like I did when I was nine years old She looked at me and laughed, said, "Boy, sit down, you blockin' the door" Then the whole route got on, every regular she ever drove for Miss Pearl with the cane, the night nurse, the twins grown tall The man she let ride free one winter, with a cake for us all Every stop, more people, standin' room, they sang her name off-key Springs groanin' under all that love, and she still made every light down Eighteenth Street [Bridge: band drops to piano, rapper spoken, close] End of the line, she pulled the brake and sat there for a minute Hands on the wheel. Said, "I don't know what my hands do if I ain't in it" So I held 'em. And they shook like the engine did Then I drove her home in a car that's paid off, and she slept the whole way. Like a kid [Key Change: Final Hook, singer soars higher, full band] Out of service, Mama, let the engine rest You carried this whole city, now let me carry the rest Turn the sign around, the last stop is home Out of service, Mama, you ain't ridin' alone [Outro: organ holds, one drum hit, stop] [End]
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