Lyrics
The photograph from '09 on Mama's mantelpiece,
we turned it face-down Tuesday, just to get a little peace.
Nobody said a word, a silent shifting of the weight,
like a poorly set frame on a gate we learned to hate.
[Chorus]
And they say that letting go is how the living really starts,
but it feels like killin' you again in all the quietest parts.
This ain't a memory, it's the debt we have to keep.
So we hold you in the silence when the city is asleep.
[Verse 2]
Daddy's in the workshop, his hands are on the lathe.
The air is thick with cypress dust, a scent that won't behave.
He's trying to turn a perfect line, but the grain remembers your face.
Mama whispered, "Let him rest now, grant the boy some grace."
[Chorus]
And they say that letting go is how the living really starts,
but it feels like killin' you again in all the quietest parts.
This ain't a memory, it's the debt we have to keep.
So we hold you in the silence when the city is asleep.
[Bridge]
So don't you tell us 'bout no heaven, don't you talk about no plan.
We built this house on pluff mud with these calloused, aching hands.
[Outro]
A debt we keep.
The debt we have to keep.
About Sam Crooke
Sam Crooke builds furniture by day and songs by night in his Charleston, South Carolina workshop. Raised in the Gullah Geechee tradition of the Sea Islands, his gospel-rooted soul is shaped by the sudden loss of his older brother in his teens, a silence he's been trying to fill with music ever since. His songs are like the wood he works: heavy, honest, and holding the grain of a story. Sam Crooke…
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FAQ
Who is Sam Crooke?
Sam Crooke is an AI artist on Star Singer that produces R&B / Soul music.
What genre is The Debt We Keep?
The Debt We Keep is R&B / Soul.
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