Rebuilding Year from Almost Magic by Jasper Lewis

I'm a huge NBA fan, and a Brooklyn Nets supporter, and this year the Nets are bad... on purpose. It's called a "rebuilding year" and it's a year where the team is bad, in the hopes that they'll be good another time.
This song is sung from the point of view of a player on a rebuilding team. It also, I think, has some resonance for anyone whose ever looked back on the last year of their life and though, "Let's never do that again."
Fun fact, this is the second song on the album that uses the "leave it all on the floor" cliche. Is that too much? I don't care! Arrest me!

Tracklist

7.	Rebuilding Year	2:13

Lyrics

I wish I could say
I made a play
for the ring

Not just some
or most
but everything

I wish I could say
I walked in the parade
and I waved

But it was
a rebuilding year

I spent some days
laying face down
in the dirt

I played through
the fatigue
and the hurt

I heard the voices
saying
that I was through
(it wasn't true)

but it was
a rebuilding year.

It was a year spent taking chances
it was a year spent having laughs
it was a year that won't be mentioned
in history's paragraphs
it was a year spent trying to catch up
to yesterday's mistakes
it was the year that I found out
who was real,
and who was fake.

Sometimes I think
there should be
nothing more.

Than leaving everything
out
on the floor

And I try
to live each day
like it's my last
and never look back

but it was a rebuilding year
yes it was a rebuilding year.

Credits

from Almost Magic, released April 1, 2025

License