Tabs Running

[Verse 1]
Clock in at ten, same shit different night,
She on her bullshit, same rehearsed fight.
I don't flinch, I don't blink, I just write it down,
Every word, every slight, every time she clowned.
You think silence means I'm broken, think again,
I'm the most dangerous man she's ever been
stupid enough to underestimate on this floor,
Tab's running baby, keep adding more.

[Pre-Chorus]
I bite my tongue but I don't forget,
Got a memory like a steel trap, no regret.
Every dog has her day, mine's getting close,
And when it comes she won't even see the ghost.

[Chorus]
Tab's running, tab's running,
She been spending what she can't afford to owe.
Tab's running, tab's running,
She won't know it's due until I go.
Every little dig, every power move she made,
Every time she killed my name in the shade.
I been quiet, I been patient, I been still,
But the tab's running and it's time to pay the bill.

[Verse 2]
She talks down to people like it makes her tall,
Built her whole identity on making men feel small.
I see her for exactly what she is,
A small person with a title, that's all it is.
I clock out, sit in my car, let it dissolve,
Drive home to the only thing worth more than resolve.
My kids asleep, I kiss their heads and I reset,
But I don't forgive and I damn sure don't forget.

[Pre-Chorus]
I bite my tongue but I don't forget,
Got a memory like a steel trap, no regret.
Every dog has her day, mine's getting close,
And when it comes she won't even see the ghost.

[Chorus]
Tab's running, tab's running,
She been spending what she can't afford to owe.
Tab's running, tab's running,
She won't know it's due until I go.
Every little dig, every power move she made,
Every time she killed my name in the shade.
I been quiet, I been patient, I been still,
But the tab's running and it's time to pay the bill.

[Bridge]
She owns the title but she don't own me,
Every shift I work is buying my family free.
And the day I walk out of here for good,
She'll finally understand me like she never could.
No explosion, no scene, I won't give her that,
Just an empty chair and my name on a plaque
of every person she burned who found their way out,
That's the revenge she never got to figure out.

[Verse 3]
Some nights the weight is almost too much to hold,
But I think about my children growing up bold,
Watching their father never bow, never break,
Teaching them what kind of man it takes.
So let her talk, let her posture, let her play,
I'm building something she could never take away.
And one morning I'll just simply not be there,
No warning, no goodbye, just an empty chair.

[Outro — slow, melodic, almost a whisper]
Tab's running.
Every word.
Every night.
Every shift.
Tab's running.
And I always
collect.

Melodic rap, house, male voice