Conditional Use

[Verse 1]
The rendering's laminated to the light pole there on Degnan,
Third Tuesday in August, the heat off the asphalt is pregnant
with the smell of new lumber and promises we can't deposit.
I trace the blueprint's border, tryna see the profit in the logic,
and I tell you, "Look, it's progress, a unified design code."
A new arterial roadway for the memories we outgrew.
I'm talking infrastructure, parcel maps, the public right-of-way,
anything to keep from looking at your face and what you wanna say.

[Chorus]
They call it mixed-use zoning, I call it mixed feelings.
Pray the new foundation's strong enough to hold up the ceilings.
Yeah, it's mixed-use zoning, I call it mixed signals.
They change the locks on the block and hand you keys to the symbols.

[Verse 2]
You just shake your head slow, don't even look at the notice,
you're staring at the patch of dirt where the jacaranda's oldest
branch used to hang, painting the concrete a deep violet mess.
You say, "They rezoned our whole childhood with no public address.
That lot's an Opportunity Zone now, what a funny phrase."
I see the fire in your eyes, cutting through the August haze.
"‘It ain't a demolition,’ he told me, ‘it’s just urban renewal.’"
You said it quiet, like our father polishing a family jewel.

[Chorus]
They call it mixed-use zoning, I call it mixed feelings.
Pray the new foundation's strong enough to hold up the ceilings.
Yeah, it's mixed-use zoning, I call it mixed signals.
They change the locks on the block and hand you keys to the symbols.

[Bridge]
(instrumental breakdown for 20 seconds — no vocals)

[Outro]
The city gives you a key for a door that ain't your house yet,
and you just pray the deadbolt fits the outline of the old regret.