Mama's Knees

Her knees paid for my wings
Let me tell you how I found that out

Flew home with my shoes worth more than her stove
She met me at the door like I never rose
"You're thin. Sit down. The soup's still hot.
And don't put your big-man phone on my pot"
Same laugh, same bright wrapper, same busy hands
Then I passed her room at the evening's fold
And saw the floorboards worn down pale and old
Right beside her bed, one patch rubbed bare

Size of two knees, twenty years of wear
I asked her what happened to the wood down there
She said, "That's where I put you in better hands than mine"

I thought it was the hustle, the grind (no, son)
I thought it was my talent (no, son)
I thought I built my wings from steel
It was Mama's knees (Mama's knees)

Ohhh (Mama's knees)
Her knees paid for my wings (yes, they did)

Don't you pity her, she'd chase you with a spoon
She buried hard years and still hummed a tune
Raised four on a market table and a prayer
Sold bread at dawn so my fees got paid
But at four a.m. when the house went still
While I slept and swore, she knelt
Twenty years of quiet, no applause, no crowd
The ceiling heard what she never said aloud

I asked her once more what she prayed for there
She said, "Not your money, son
I prayed you'd stay kind"

I thought it was the hustle, the grind (no, son)
I thought it was my talent (no, son)
I thought I built my wings from steel
It was Mama's knees (Mama's knees)

Who prayed you through the border? (somebody's knees)
Who prayed you through the fever? (somebody's knees)
Who prayed you through the years you don't talk about? (somebody's knees)

So I got down in the patch she wore
My knees where her knees shaped the floor
The wood was smooth like a river stone
I thought I climbed alone
But the floor still knows her name

I thought it was the hustle, the grind (no, son)
I thought it was my talent (no, son)
Whatever lifted me, now I know it's real
It was Mama's knees (Mama's knees)

I keep the patch bare, I won't sand that floor
Some things you don't fix, you just kneel there a little more