Made It Out

The whole street's here tonight
Drummer, call them all in

Look who's dancing by the speaker stack
Amara the nurse, first shift done, still got moves
Tunde's on the decks he built from that chair
Whole block is the soundtrack in the open air
Kids on shoulders, elders in the front-row seats
Grill smoke curling over drum-line beats
Auntie's jollof pot has a queue three deep
Nobody's flexing, everybody glows

If your year was heavy but you're here
If you carried somebody down this street
On the drum, on the four
One, two, three

Hands up, we made it out (made it out)
One drum in the middle
Lights strung over the crowd
We made it out

We made it out (made it out)
One drum in the middle
Lights strung over the crowd
We made it out

Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
We made it out

Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
We made it out

Then the crowd goes soft, here comes Mama down the road
Wrapper bright as morning, taking it slow
She reaches the centre drum and smiles that smile
Twenty years of four a.m. worth every mile
And there by the food table, one chair apart
A candle burning on the seat we saved for the heart
We didn't make it out alone, and some paid more
So the drum plays soft one round, then we roar

Hands up, we made it out (made it out)
One drum in the middle
Lights strung over the crowd
We made it out

Where the builders at?
We made it out
Where the mamas at?
We made it out

Where the builders at?
We made it out
Where the mamas at?
We made it out

Every window's a lantern, every roof holds a song
Every name we prayed for made it here or made us strong
If you brought somebody with you, lift them up
Then all of us, one street, one sound

Hands up, we made it out (made it out)
Mama's here, the chair is lit
We made it out

Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
We made it out

Leave the lights up all year
Oh-oh-oh (we made it)
Hands up, we made it out
We made it out