====================================================================== TRACK 066 - PAPER CROWN KING III (APOTHEOSIS) ================================================================================ 66. PAPER CROWN KING III (APOTHEOSIS) [HOOK] Paper crown king, paper crown king I took the whole county and I taught it to sing Paper crown king, paper crown king The gutter my cradle and the paper my ring Paper crown king, paper crown king From Fontana to the firmament, I'm the whole thing Paper crown king, paper crown king And the crown don't fold and the king don't kneel and the paper don't sting [VERSE 1 - double-time murmur, then bellow] I came in a nobody with a notebook and a grudge And I leave as a legend that the county can't judge Every rhyme I ever wrote was a brick in the tower And I built it in the dark in the loneliest hour I ain't have a co-sign, I ain't have a plug I just had a cold hunger and a mouth full of blood And I chewed through the doubters and I spat out the bone And I crowned myself king when I was all alone Nobody handed me the paper, nobody lent the pen I invented the language and I used it on men Who said that I'd never, and I said "watch me then" And I watched 'em all scatter like roaches in the wind This is for the block that raised me and the ones that didn't make it And the mothers in the kitchen and the fathers that they faked it This is for the paper crown and every hand that shaped it And the king who wore it all the way and never once escaped it [HOOK] Paper crown king, paper crown king I took the whole county and I taught it to sing Paper crown king, paper crown king The gutter my cradle and the paper my ring Paper crown king, paper crown king From Fontana to the firmament, I'm the whole thing Paper crown king, paper crown king And the crown don't fold and the king don't kneel and the paper don't sting [VERSE 2 - triplets rolling, then quadruple ram] I'm-a-triplet-off-the-temple, I'm-a-sermon-off-the-steeple I'm-the-king-of-every-people-that-the-paper-never-keep I'm-a-triplet-off-the-table, I'm-a-fable-and-a-label I'm-the-reason-that-the-able-get-a-seat-at-my-table Quadruple-quadruple-I'm-the-whole-of-the-game Every-rapper-in-the-county-got-my-cadence-in-his-frame Every-king-in-the-asylum-got-my-name-on-his-walls And-I-never-asked-for-nothing-'cause-I-took-it-all I-took-the-corner and-I-took-the-crown I-took-the-silence and-I-took-the-sound I-took-the-lonely and-I-took-the-loud I-took-the-nothing and-I-made-it-proud So-crown-me-or-don't and-the-answer's-the-same 'Cause-I-already-crowned-me and-I-already-came And-I-already-won and-I-already-know The-paper-crown-king and-the-king-don't-go [BRIDGE - gospel choir swells, organ, spoken over the top, grand] For every kid in Fontana with a notebook and a dream. For every mother working doubles and still finding the time. For every man who ever stood in the middle of a burning world and refused to run. This is the coronation. Not of a man. Of an idea. That the paper crown, worn long enough, becomes iron. And the iron, worn long enough, becomes a name. And the name is Whiteside. And the name is forever. [VERSE 3 - whispered confession, then rising] And I know the crown is paper. I always knew. And I know the kingdom's cracked and the throne is glue. And I know the whole thing could fold in a night. And I know I'm just a man in a county of light. But I stood in the smoke when everybody fled. And I spoke to the dead when everybody said That the dead don't answer. And I answered 'em back. And I gave 'em a verse and I gave 'em a track. And I gave 'em a reason to be remembered loud. And I gave the whole city a reason to be proud. So maybe the paper was never the point. Maybe the point was the man in the joint. The man who stayed standing when the standing got hard. The man who kept swinging when the dealer dealt the card. The man who loved the county even when the county didn't. The king of the ashes. The king of the ridden. [FINAL VERSE - slow, clear, triumphant half-time] So here it is, plain, no tricks, no speed. I was born in the dirt and I planted a seed. And I watered it daily with the blood and the beat. And it grew into a kingdom on the loneliest street. And I sit on the throne now, and the throne is a crate. And the crown is the paper that the county calls fate. And the kingdom is a county full of ghosts and of grit. And the crown is the promise that I never would quit. So crown me again, and again, and again. Not 'cause I'm asking - 'cause I am the pen. And the pen is the sword and the sword is the song. And the song is the county and the county is strong. And the king is the county and the county is me. And the paper-crown king is the king of the free. So put it on the tombstone, carve it in the stone: The paper-crown king never bowed and never will. Never will. Never will. Paper crown king. [OUTRO - every instrument resolves into one chord, the bell tolls once, then silence] Paper crown king. Paper crown king. Whiteside. Forever. The end of the record. The start of the reign.
