The Ones Who Stayed

Glasses up, glasses up — hold on, hold on, hold on (hold on!)
Before we drink to anything else tonight…
I count the ones who stayed (that's you)
This one's a toast — everybody in? (we're in!)

Table's loud tonight and I love the sound
Same five faces from when nothing was around
Kunle's telling that story wrong again, louder ("it was ME who drove!")
Nia's laughing wine right out of her nose (again!)
Look at us — shoes better, same old jokes
Phones face-down 'cause the room's what counts
Jollof pot scraped to the sweet bottom part
Somebody's playlist doing its part
Everybody's here who was here before the applause —
So lift something, family — here's the first round's cause:

'Cause anybody comes around when the table's full (anybody)
But I remember the folding chairs and the empty pot (we were there)
So this glass isn't for the crowd outside —
It's for five names, and you know who you are —

To the ones who stayed (raise it!)
When the room got small (we stayed!)
When the money got quiet (we stayed!)
When I had no call to make at all (right here!)
To the ones who stayed (one more!)
Through the borrowed years (we stayed!)
I count the ones who stayed —
And the count is small, and the count is dear (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Five names in my phone, first page, always — to you!

Let me tell one debt I never said out loud:
The broke December when the heat got cut —
Somebody paid my rent and never brought it up
I found out three years later from his wife (three years!)
Receipt still folded in his Bible, page one
Man was eating garri, telling me he's fine
So his brother wouldn't feel the winter bite
That's the kind of love that doesn't need a light —
It just stays… it just stays… it just stays

'Cause anybody comes around when the table's full (anybody)
But I remember the folding chairs and the empty pot (we were there)
So this glass isn't for the crowd outside —
It's for five names, and you know who you are —

To the ones who stayed (raise it!)
When the room got small (we stayed!)
When the money got quiet (we stayed!)
When I had no call to make at all (right here!)
To the ones who stayed (one more!)
Through the borrowed years (we stayed!)
I count the ones who stayed —
And the count is small, and the count is dear (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Five names in my phone, first page, always — to you!

To the one who drove six hours in the rain (to you!)
To the one who stayed when the account said zero (to you!)
To the one who prayed and never told me (to you!)
To the one who covered rent in silence (to you, brother… to you)
To the one who answered every 2 a.m. (to you!)
To whoever's holding somebody down right now (to you — do it quiet)
Mmm… to you (to you)
Mmm… to you (to you)
Somebody top up the glasses — one story left to pour (pour it, pour it)

…There's a chair at this table we keep with a glass
For the one who stayed the longest and left too fast
We don't cry at this table — that's not what he'd want
We tell his story louder and we order what he'd order (his usual! two of them!)
So — to the one who stayed until he couldn't stay:
Your seat is safe. Your glass is full. We good. (we good)

To the ones who stayed
When the room got small
When the money got quiet
When I had no call to make at all

To the ones who stayed (raise it!)
To the ones who stayed (raise it!)
When the room got small (we stayed!)
When the money got quiet (we stayed!)
When I had no call to make at all (right here!)
To the ones who stayed (one more!)
Through the borrowed years (we stayed!)
I count the ones who stayed —
And the count is small, and the count is dear (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Clink, clink — to you (to you!)
Five names in my phone, first page, always — to you!

Same table next month, same corner? (you know it)
Bring your folding chair for old times' sake ("never again!" — hahaha)
I count the ones who stayed (count me in)
Text me when you're home safe, all of you (always do)
First page of my phone, forever — you know the names
To you… to you… (to you)