Empty Chair at the Table

Lyrics

Sunday table set for one more than we need
Grandpa's chair by the window, nobody sits
Gravy in the pot like the recipe he gave
Same cracked radio playing his old hits
I came in late with my coat still wet
Mama said, wash up, we ain't started yet
Cousins talking loud over plates and plates
But I'm watching the chair, and the chair just waits
He taught me how to fold a dollar and a word
Said, a man's name is the only thing he's got
I was too busy chasing to say what I heard
Now I say it at the table, and it hits a lot

Empty chair at the table
Full of everything he gave
Empty chair at the table
I say thank you at his grave
I say thank you every Sunday
With a plate and with a prayer
Empty chair at the table
But he's sitting right there

Auntie passes bread and she wipes her eye
Little cousin asks why we leave it that way
Mama says, baby, love don't say goodbye
It just takes a seat in a different way
I look at my hands and I see his hands
Same scar on the knuckle, same slow walk
Same way I listen to the city's demands
Same quiet strength when I choose to talk
Now my verses got his voice in the bones
Every bar is a Sunday I owe
I can't call him up on the telephone
But I rap and the whole room knows

Empty chair at the table
Full of everything he gave
Empty chair at the table
I say thank you at his grave
I say thank you every Sunday
With a plate and with a prayer
Empty chair at the table
But he's sitting right there

Pour a little something for the ones who've gone
Light a little candle till the morning's on
Hold the hand beside you, sing the old song
We were never lonely, we were carried along

Empty chair at the table
Full of everything he gave
Empty chair at the table
I say thank you at his grave
I say thank you every Sunday
With a plate and with a prayer
Empty chair at the table
But he's sitting right there

Thank you, Grandpa
The chair's still warm