Corner Store Gospel

I learned the block by name

from the candy rack to the chain-link gate

Mama said keep your face up

when the whole world look the other way

Late runs, coin jar, cold fries

coupe pass, they don't know my lane

I seen big talk turn small

when the porch lights cut through rain

One step, then another

keep my hands where they can see

Every corner got a memory

every scar got a key

Street life, street life

I don't belong to the night

Street life, street life

Still I walk it with my eyes wide

Street life, street life

Take my name, not my pride

Street life, street life

I'm still here, I'm still alive

Old heads on the stoop lean back

talk slow like they been burned

Little kids with a fast, fast grin

and a hunger they don't deserve

I seen friends chase a shiny lie

then fold when the rent came due

I keep one hand on the plan

and one hand on the truth

One step, then another

if I fall, I rise clean

Every locked door on my path

made a fighter out of me

Street life, street life

I don't belong to the night

Street life, street life

Still I walk it with my eyes wide

Street life, street life

Take my name, not my pride

Street life, street life

I'm still here, I'm still alive

Tell my mother I made it back

with my shoes torn and my faith intact

I don't wear these lines for style

they're the miles that brought me back

Street life, street life

I don't belong to the night

Street life, street life

Still I walk it with my eyes wide

Street life, street life

Take my name, not my pride

Street life, street life

I'm still here, I'm still alive