Heirloom Recipe

[Verse 1]
(Sound of a phone ringing, then a voicemail beep)
Yo, it's Kai. Uh… just… I’m on Bee Street again.
The new Italian leather feels strange on the curb where your mother's azaleas grew.
It's the first week of June, heat's already thick enough to stir with a spoon.
Yeah, man, things are simmering up, I'm getting the flavor right,
turned a lot of salt to sugar under these new kitchen lights.
Got the heat on high, yeah the new joint's got a six-burner range,
ain't it strange? Everything's plated perfect, but the portions change.
Still using that old cast iron, though. Gave it a new season.
Just calling for no reason.

[Chorus]
Same old ingredients, but the taste is off.
We let it over-proof, now the whole damn thing is soft.
Same heirloom recipe, but the page is lost.
Guess some things just reduce down to the cost.

[Verse 2]
You were the palate check, the one who knew the notes behind the taste.
Remember what you told me? "Don't ever let the good stock go to waste."
Well, I been boiling bones for years, my reduction's bitter, thin.
Got a pantry full of pretty labels for the state I'm in.
Saw your cousin at the Parker's, said you're working with a new crew.
Said you found a different kitchen, plating something shiny, something new.
That's cool. Hope you're deglazing all the good bits off the pan.
Gilding all the rust for Instagram, I understand.

[Bridge]
(Beat cuts to only drums and vocal)
Look, forget all that.
The real reason I called…
The pilot light is out again.
The dough ain't rising at all.
Just wanted to hear the line ring.
That's all.

[Outro]
(The sound of a quiet hang-up click. A single, warped cello note hangs in the silence and fades.)