The story behind this song
A grandfather who left the eighth grade for a field that needed hands. A mother who cleaned night shifts so the lights stayed on. Nobody in the line ever got the chance, so they put their hopes in a jar and passed it down. Then the FAFSA phone calls, the forms translated alone at the kitchen table, the hallways where nobody looked the same — and a walk across the stage that's a hundred years long.
For the graduate holding a diploma covered in names that aren't on it, with a little cousin already taking notes.
Lyrics
This walk ain't twenty steps
It's a hundred years long
It's a hundred years long
Grandpa left the eighth grade for a field that needed hands
Mama cleaned the night shift with a dream she never planned
They put their chances in a jar and passed it down the line
And you just walked it 'cross a stage — first of all your kind
Mama cleaned the night shift with a dream she never planned
They put their chances in a jar and passed it down the line
And you just walked it 'cross a stage — first of all your kind
Every name that came before you
Is roaring in that crowd
Is roaring in that crowd
First in the family, but you didn't walk alone
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
The kitchen-table study nights, translating your own forms
The "what's a FAFSA" phone calls, learning every rule and norm
You doubted in the hallways where nobody looked like you
But honey, look around today — they're calling out your name, it's true
The "what's a FAFSA" phone calls, learning every rule and norm
You doubted in the hallways where nobody looked like you
But honey, look around today — they're calling out your name, it's true
The door you just walked through
Stays open from now on
Stays open from now on
First in the family, but you didn't walk alone
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
Somewhere a little cousin's watching how you wear that gown
Taking notes on what's possible
You just moved the family ceiling — it's the floor now
Taking notes on what's possible
You just moved the family ceiling — it's the floor now
First in the family, but you didn't walk alone
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
Every sacrifice they made is in your cap and gown
Hold that paper to the sky — it's got a hundred names
First in the family
Never the last again
Frame it in the kitchen
Where everybody prays
Where everybody prays
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