⏪ Rewind

[Intro] Run it back, run it back Watch the story crawl From the last breath taken To the start of it all [Verse 1 — The End] Smoke crawls back in the barrel The shell jumps off the ground The bullet flies in reverse And it don't make a sound I rise up off the concrete The blood pulls back in The streetlight quits its flicker And the night begins again Sirens fade out backwards The crowd un-gathers slow Everybody steps back To a minute ago [Verse 2 — Before the Shot] We un-say the words That we never should've said The whole argument rewinds Right back inside our heads He un-draws the steel Tucks it back in his coat I un-clench my fist Swallow back what I wrote The bodega light hums The corner cat un-runs Two young kings on the block Before it all comes undone [Hook] Rewind, rewind Take it back down the line Every step that I took Pull it back through time Show me the boy Before the streets got mine Rewind, rewind One more time [Verse 3 — Earlier That Night] The dice roll back to my hand The money un-changes place The laugh that turned to a threat Un-twists right off his face We un-walk the avenue Backwards down the train The doors un-open slow On the screech of the J The dealers un-make the sale The lookout drops his guard The whole block breathes reverse Like a wound un-scars [Hook] Rewind, rewind Take it back down the line Every step that I took Pull it back through time Show me the boy Before the streets got mine Rewind, rewind One more time [Verse 4 — The Beginning] Now I'm small again On the stoop with a cone Moms callin' my name From the sixth-floor window home No steel, no scars Just a book bag and a dream A kid who loved this city Before the city turned mean The whole thing froze right there On that summer day And if I could stop the tape I'd let him stay [Outro] Run it back, run it back But the tape only goes one way This time it stopped at the start This time the boy gets to stay