Lyrics
[verse]
Wake up to the sirens singing outside my door
Concrete symphony playing from the fourth floor
Steam rising off the corner store coffee cup
Old men playing dominoes before the sun comes up
I write my thoughts on subway cars and napkins torn
Every station a story since the day I was born
Watched my city breathe in rhythms nobody wrote
Every hustle, every hymn, every whispered quote
I carry the weight of ten thousand streets
In the cadence of my footsteps, in the way my heart beats
This the city that raised me rough but raised me true
Every scar a chapter, every block a residue
[chorus]
This the city state of mind, running through my veins
Concrete and the gospel, sunshine through the rain
I carry every borough in the rhythm of my walk
This the city state of mind, this the way we talk
Rising like the skyline, reaching for the blue
This the city state of mind, this is me and you
[verse]
Grandmama used to say this city got a soul
Buried in the bricks and buried in the coal
Every rooftop holds a story nobody sees
Every fire escape a ladder to believe
I learned to read the pavement like a holy book
Every corner has a lesson if you take a look
We ain't perfect but we persevere through the strain
Turn a hard winter into a summer refrain
This a tribute to the dreamers riding the train
Chasing daylight through the tunnels, chasing gain
We the product of a struggle turned to art
This the city state of mind living in my heart
[chorus]
This the city state of mind, running through my veins
Concrete and the gospel, sunshine through the rain
I carry every borough in the rhythm of my walk
This the city state of mind, this the way we talk
Rising like the skyline, reaching for the blue
This the city state of mind, this is me and you
[bridge]
Every siren a hymn, every horn a prayer
Every stranger passing by become a kind of care
We built this from nothing, brick by brick, block by block
This the city state of mind, this the heartbeat, this the rock
[chorus]
This the city state of mind, running through my veins
Concrete and the gospel, sunshine through the rain
I carry every borough in the rhythm of my walk
This the city state of mind, this the way we talk
Rising like the skyline, reaching for the blue
This the city state of mind, this is me and you
