Appraise Me Right

Hold me to the window light
Appraise me right, appraise me right

Appraise me right

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Hold me to the window light

Jeweler squint at me through a loupe like a tiny moon
Say the colour's a little off, the cut came too soon
I say the colour is the soil where the rough was found
Pressure did the cutting when nobody was around
Mama's overtime, that's the carat in my weight
Dad's old work boots, that's the cut that stays
You can't grade a stone by the shop it's sitting in
You grade it by the light when the light gets in
Price tag on my chest from a job I outgrew
Starting offer lowball, I just laughed and said too
Low for the one who carried the whole crew
Gold in the pocket, a lifetime in the seam
Hold me to the window, let the daylight judge
Not the fluorescent lamp, not the man with the grudge
He weighs me on a scale that's been wrong since before
I bring my own scale, brother, I came with the score

Carat, cut, clarity, colour
Say the four, then say mine

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Hold me to the window light
Appraise me right, appraise me right
Flaws are just the proof of the fight

Appraise me right

Colour
(hold it up)
Clarity
(hold it up)
Cut

Carat

Clarity, they call it, every flaw gets a name
Inclusion is the word for the cracks and the shame
One from the visa line, one from the broken vow
One from the year I stopped asking and just bowed
Gemologist say inclusions are the fingerprint
The reason it's a stone and not a piece of tint
Glass is flawless, glass is cheap, glass never learned to bear
A stone remember pressure, that's the reason it's rare
So when you see the scratches don't you squint, don't you flinch
Every little line on me is a medal, an inch
Of the road that I walked with the weight on my back
Take the cloth off the table, let me spread out the stack
Velvet on the counter, put the whole life down
Don't hand me back the paper till you've heard the sound

Carat, cut, clarity, colour
Say the four, then say mine

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Hold me to the window light
Appraise me right, appraise me right
Flaws are just the proof of the fight

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Appraise me right, appraise me right

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Appraise me right, appraise me right

Appraise me right

Colour
(hold it up)
Clarity
(hold it up)
Cut
(hold it up)
Carat

Clarity

The cutter said hold still, this might hurt a bit

Every facet is a place where a hammer hit
Don't tell me the hit was a mistake
That's how the light learned where to break
That's how the light learned to come in
Now look at me, I'm throwing it back again
Call it rough, call it raw, call it what you like
I was never a stone that asked to be polite
So hold me to the window, hold me to the sun
I'm not cheap, I'm not rough, I'm done being done

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Hold me to the window light
Appraise me right, appraise me right
Flaws are the reason I shine

Appraise me right, appraise me right
Hold me to the window light
Appraise me right, appraise me right

Appraise me right