[Intro – Soft Pads + Ad-libs]
Mmm-hmm… yeah…
(Zone 3 forever…)
Carver Homes raised me…
(Yeah… ayy…)
Those was the days…
[Verse 1]
I’m from Carver Home, Zone 3,
Where your neighbors was your aunties,
Everybody lived on one street—
(One street!)
If you needed somethin’, they had me.
Walkin’ to Mr. White house on that corner,
Quarter in my hand, candy in my dreams,
Back when .25 felt like a fortune—
(Ha! You know…)
Life was simple, life was sweet.
In that back field where we played,
We found bones in that Georgia clay.
Daddy said, “Girl, don’t touch that,”
(“Uh-uh, leave that be.”)
Like he knew spirits walked that place.
But we kept runnin’, bare feet in red dirt,
Laughin’ like life couldn’t hurt—
(Yessir…)
Yeah… those was the days…
[Hook – With Light Ad-libs]
Those was the days…
(For real…)
When everybody lived, and the world felt safe.
Those was the days…
(Yeah, yeah…)
We ain’t have much, but we had that grace.
Those was the days…
(Grandma’s hand…)
Holdin’ my hand through every space.
Those was the days… those was the days…
[Rap Verse – Stronger, Woman’s Voice, Hood Elegance]
Ayy, look—
Carver Homes taught me loyalty deep, (deep-deep)
No trust in gold—plates on the table, we eat. (we eat)
Cousins on porches, scrape-ups in the street, (street!)
Touch one of ours, whole block rise to their feet. (rise!)
Grandma’s braids braided truth in my hair,
Baby on her hip hummin’ prayers in the kitchen air.
We ate on Sundays—bills folded in a drawer,
Learned to bend, not break, keep faith when the lights were low and poor. (low-low)
Green Boys held it down—taught me how to fight and forgive, (shout!)
Big Jack showed how a real one lives—respect’s how you live.
Carver Home legends, y’all wrote my name on the block,
Without that village, I wouldn’t have learned to walk this walk. (tell ’em)
We turned late-night prayers into morning strength,
Raised on porch light sermons and the stretch of the length.
We survived, we thrived, polished pain into praise—
Zone 3 heartbeat—still pumpin’ in my veins. (Zone 3 forever…)
(Delivery cue: pause — doubled ad-libs after key rhymes, call-response into hook)
[Verse 2]
I remember catchin’ MARTA downtown,
Me and Grandma ridin’ seat to seat.
Headed to the farmer’s market,
Where the air smelled like peaches and heat.
She held my hand so tight in the crowd,
Like she was protectin’ more than a child.
Her touch was prayer, her eyes were wisdom—
Walkin’ next to her always felt like freedom.
[Hook – Full Chorus w/ Ad-libs]
Those was the days…
(Those was the days, yeah…)
When everybody lived, and the world felt safe.
Those was the days…
(A better time…)
We ain’t have much, but we had that grace.
Those was the days…
(Grandma’s love…)
Holdin’ my hand through every space.
Those was the days… those was the days…
[Bridge]
Take me back to them red dirt roads,
Stories told on porches old.
Laughin’ ’bout nothin’ ’til the sun went low—
Life was he
