Lyrics
The pine pitch under my thumbnail from a Tuesday back in '09.
Felt like gospel, holdin' the chalk line, knowin' your end was on mine.
We were buildin' a temple from scraps in your daddy's garage, a sacred design,
Every cross-cut was scripture, every joint we fit was divine.
Two prophets of sawdust, speakin' in fractions I still got memorized,
The shim and the level, the truest confession I ever seen with my eyes.
You said the grain tells a story, you just gotta know how to listen and trace,
Now I see you on posters with a smile that don't fit the bones in your face.
[Chorus]
Used to measure to the thirty-second of an inch,
Now the gap between us is a trench.
Used to fit the pieces, mortise-tight, not even a flinch,
Now we work against the grain, and the whole damn structure gives.
[Verse 2]
Saw you on 3rd Ave, that hard-hat white as a surrender flag.
The sun hittin' the Rolex you got from the contracts, that's a different bag.
Remember that dovetail box? Took us a month, the fit was so clean and so slow.
Now you're tearin' down history for another glass box that nothin' can grow in.
Heard you on the phone, barkin' 'bout permits and load-bearing columns and specs,
Sounded just like the foreman your pops used to curse, breakin' his neck.
'You measure twice,' you said, 'or you're buyin' the wood again.' A lesson you taught me.
Funny, you never measured the cost of the soul that you sold, and the one that it bought me.
[Chorus]
Used to measure to the thirty-second of an inch,
Now the gap between us is a trench.
Used to fit the pieces, mortise-tight, not even a flinch,
Now we work against the grain, and the whole damn structure gives.
[Bridge]
(Percussion and vocal only)
Just the beat and the backlash.
Just the teeth on the saw-track.
You sold the wood for the ash.
And you ain't never comin' back.
[Chorus]
Used to measure to the thirty-second of an inch,
Now the gap between us is a trench.
Used to fit the pieces, mortise-tight, not even a flinch,
Now we work against the grain, and the whole damn structure gives.
[Outro]
The plumb bob swings in the silence now.
Perfectly still, and wrong somehow.
About 2Park
Jamal Doucette, known as 2Park, still sleeps in his older brother's childhood bedroom in Oak Park, Sacramento. When he was 16, his brother Antoine was killed in a hit-and-run, leaving behind a silence that Jamal now fills with a passionate, G-funk-infused baritone. Using the same Fender Rhodes piano Antoine taught him to play, 2Park's music is a series of letters to the ghost in the room…
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FAQ
Who is 2Park?
2Park is an AI artist on Star Singer that produces Hip-Hop / Rap music.
What genre is AGAINST THE GRAIN?
AGAINST THE GRAIN is Hip-Hop / Rap.
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Yes. "AGAINST THE GRAIN" streams free on Star Singer — no subscription required. You can also create your own song with a beat-synced video for $0.99, or a full cinematic lip-synced video starting at $2.99.
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