Lys Vert - Corner Store Memories Lyrics

[Intro]
Late nights stocking shelves, minimum wage dreams
Fluorescent lights flickering, not what it seems
Corner store confessions, where the hustlers meet
Between the candy bars and receipts

[Verse 1]
First job at sixteen, paying back what I stole
Vinyl records haunting me, taking its toll
Mr. Jean behind the counter, eyes like steel
Teaching me more than any classroom could reveal
Mama sending money back home every week
While I'm learning life between these aisles so deep
Watching old heads buying loosies at midnight
Young boys counting quarters in the dim light
Stories in broken English, dreams in Creole
Every transaction got a deeper goal

[Chorus]
Corner store memories, they shaped who I am
Security cameras watching every grand plan
Between the chip bags and the cigarette stands
Learning how to hustle, learning how to stand
Corner store memories, they run through my veins
Immigrant stories written in profit and pain

[Verse 2]
Overheard convos about papers and green cards
Life lessons written on timecard after timecard
Stacking boxes in the back, dodging rats
While outside, dealers tipping their fitted caps
Mr. Jean taught me more than inventory
Each receipt a chapter in this immigrant story
Now I'm grown but still hear that door chime
Those nights restocking still marking time
Between the aisles of survival and shame
Everyone who walked in had a different name

[Bridge]
Mon petit business, c'est la vie
Counting change, staying alive
Every hustle got a story to tell
Every corner store's a parallel

[Chorus]
Corner store memories, they shaped who I am
Security cameras watching every grand plan
Between the chip bags and the cigarette stands
Learning how to hustle, learning how to stand
Corner store memories, they run through my veins
Immigrant stories written in profit and pain

[Outro]
Still smell that store when I close my eyes
Where I learned that survival comes in any size
Corner store education, paid in full
Now every shelf I stock is beautiful