Scaffolding

[Verse 1]
The four o'clock sun bakes the car park glass.
This plastic pen feels heavy in my hand.
From the twelfth floor of the Ministry of Works,
I see the roof where my father made his stand.

[Chorus]
The scaffolding climbs but the building hollow inside.
This is how we win with nowhere left to hide.
Counting all the reasons, counting all the cost,
A foundation laid for everything we lost.

[Verse 2]
He left me books with pages underlined in red,
Showed me the blueprint for the city in his head.
Now his own son is trading bricks for bread,
Forgetting every single word the old man said.

[Spoken Word Interlude]
(A different voice, crackling over a phone, cheerful and insistent)
"Ah, Fela, my guy! Just sign the form. No long talk. You think say na only you wan build house? Oya now. Everybody must chop."

[Chorus]
The scaffolding climbs but the building hollow inside.
This is how we win with nowhere left to hide.
Counting all the reasons, counting all the cost,
A foundation laid for everything we lost.

[Bridge]
One signature for my sister’s school fees paid.
One signature for the silence he obeyed.
Six mouths to feed, one ghost I can't persuade.

[Outro]
The door swings open. The air-con feels like shame.
They call my name.