Verse 1

She stands under fluorescent lights

Counting change beside the bread

Milk went up again this week

So she buys crackers instead

Her boy wants apples in his lunch

The red ones by the door

She holds one like a fragile thing

Then puts it back once more

Pre-Chorus

And somewhere there’s a table

Where the wine is never done

Where men who never miss a meal

Decide who gets to run

Chorus

They’re taking the roof

They’re taking the rain

They’re taking the hours

And calling it gain

They’re taking the land

They’re taking the sea

Leaving the rest of us

Fighting for heat

And all she’s got left

Is a receipt in her hand

A list of what she couldn’t afford

In the richest land

Verse 2

He works nights at the warehouse

With tape around his shoe

Scans boxes full of things

He’ll never give to you

His daughter drew a mansion

With flowers on the lawn

He stuck it on the fridge

Where the power’s almost gone

Pre-Chorus

And somewhere glass is shining

Fifty floors above the street

They call it market pressure

When a child has less to eat

Chorus

They’re taking the roof

They’re taking the rain

They’re taking the hours

And calling it gain

They’re taking the land

They’re taking the sea

Leaving the rest of us

Fighting for heat

And all he’s got left

Is a check that won’t clear

A promise that hard work

Would get him somewhere near

Bridge

Nobody’s asking for diamonds

Nobody’s asking for gold

Just a room that stays warm

When the weather turns cold

Just a car that keeps starting

Just medicine paid

Just a life where the working

Don’t die so afraid

Verse 3

She folds up the receipt paper

Like a letter from the war

Every line a little surrender

Every price a little more

She kisses her boy at bedtime

Says tomorrow will be fine

Then cries beside the laundry

Where no one sees the light

Final Chorus

They’re taking the roof

They’re taking the rain

They’re taking the hours

And calling it gain

They’re taking the bread

They’re taking the street

Then asking why people

Are dying on their feet

And all we’ve got left

Are our hands and our names

A song in the dark

And a heart full of flames

Outro

She keeps the receipt

In a drawer by the bed

Not for what she bought

But for what they took instead