Final Inspection

[Verse 1]
The realtor's card is taped to the office phone.
Third Tuesday in September, and I'm practicing alone.
How to say the gears are stripped, how to say the frame is bent.
How to sell the only place that ever made much sense.

[Chorus]
It's the final inspection, ay ay.
A cracked-glass reflection, my face.
Just sign on the dotted, let the dust have the space.
Yeah, the final inspection today.

[Verse 2]
I map the quiet where the air compressor used to scream.
Filter sunlight through the window, a disconnected dream.
Pop always said, "Mijo, it's just steel and rust."
But the faint smell of bondo's a ghost I can trust.

[Chorus]
It's the final inspection, ay ay.
A cracked-glass reflection, my face.
Just sign on the dotted, let the dust have the space.
Yeah, the final inspection today.

[Bridge]
I see the buyer in a suit that costs more than the rent.
He won't see the chalk outlines of where our summers went.
He won't know your name, or mine, or the engine we rebuilt.
Just a square-foot problem solved, no memory, no guilt.

[Chorus]
It's the final inspection, ay ay.
A cracked-glass reflection, my face.
Just sign on the dotted, let the dust have the space.
Yeah, the final inspection today.

[Outro]
(Acoustic guitar and single vocal)
Final inspection...
A cracked-glass reflection.