[Intro — mournful descending synth lead, vinyl crackle, Rhodes pad] Before the sirens Before the lights Yeah We got there before the night chose sides [Verse 1 — male baritone rap, laid-back narrative] Pager hit twice with the same three numbers That was my little cousin saying come through I was halfway home on a street with no traffic Thinking nothing good starts after 2 Pulled by the market with the busted blue awning Saw two cars sitting too still One man leaning on the driver-side window One man talking with his hands on the bill My cousin stood there with his shoulders all high Trying to look older than his own damn name I could tell by the way that nobody was blinking Everybody there was holding back flame I eased to the curb, kept the engine still running Said get in now, don’t ask me why He looked at me like pride had him frozen I said pride don’t keep nobody alive [Chorus — male tenor sung hook, mournful smooth R&B] Before the sirens Before the blue lights came Before the whole block learned your name Before the morning Had to count what was gone I got you out And we kept rolling on Before the sirens Before the night went wrong Before the sirens We kept rolling on [Verse 2 — rap, bassline forward, darker] He got in slow with his jaw locked tight Said I had it handled, said I knew the play I said if you knew it, you wouldn’t be shaking And you wouldn’t be looking back that way Turned down Florence, then cut through the alleys Headlights low by the old tire shop Somebody’s sedan came up in the mirror Then fell back two blocks from the stop He kept saying man, you don’t understand it That was money owed from a month ago I said I understand when the night gets greedy It can take more back than a man can owe He looked out the window at the closed-down laundry At the steel gate shining like rain Said I’m tired of being broke and embarrassed I said shame can make a young man strange [Chorus — sung, thicker doubles] Before the sirens Before the blue lights came Before the whole block learned your name Before the morning Had to count what was gone I got you out And we kept rolling on Before the sirens Before the night went wrong Before the sirens We kept rolling on [Verse 3 — rap, quieter, more personal] We hit the bridge by the rail yard crossing He finally quit acting so cold Said he ain’t been sleeping, said the rent got heavy Said he felt like twenty-five years old But he was nineteen with his whole life bending Trying to stand tall in a crooked place I saw my own fear sitting right beside me Wearing his anger on a younger face Pulled to my auntie’s with the porch light burning She came outside in her robe half-tied Didn’t ask questions when she saw his expression Just held his head and let him cry I sat in the car with the motor still ticking Watching dawn make the street look thin Thanked God quiet for the ten wrong seconds That didn’t get to happen to him [Bridge — male tenor sung verse bridge, 70s funk strings in minor] And the road kept breathing And the dark kept leaning And the city kept secrets That it never gave back But I saw him standing In the kitchen light shaking And I knew how close The night came to black [Final Chorus — sung hook, wider harmonies, still mournful] Before the sirens Before the blue lights came Before the whole block learned your name Before the morning Had to count what was gone I got you out And we kept rolling on Before the sirens Before the night went wrong Before the sirens We kept rolling on [Outro — synth lead descends, rap voice low] Before the sirens Before the lights We got there before the night chose sides
