The Traveler's Ballad

In a Manhattan courtroom, the gavels did fall On a man who had built himself towers so tall Thirty-four counts, a story unspun Of records all twisted 'neath the New York sun A jury of twelve, with their faces so plain Washed the gold from the ledger, again and again A hush-money payment, a secret to keep Sowed a whirlwind of trouble from a promise so cheap Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the headlines they fly Like leaves in a storm 'neath a wide-open sky A king is brought low, a new one is crowned It's the same old story on this patch of ground

The traveler sings what the wire has brung A new verse to a ballad that's endlessly sung Out on the coast, where the silicon gleams They're mining the future from digital dreams NVIDIA's engine, a humming so bright Turns numbers to fortunes, turns darkness to light A trillion-dollar mountain from chips small and grand A new kind of power held in a man's hand While down in the southwest, the mercury climbs Another hot summer, repeating its rhymes Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the headlines they fly Like leaves in a storm 'neath a wide-open sky

A king is brought low, a new one is crowned It's the same old story on this patch of ground The traveler sings what the wire has brung A new verse to a ballad that's endlessly sung The President speaks of a three-part design To quiet the guns on a far-off front line A plea for the hostages, a hope for a truce While the Texas sky rages and lets the winds loose The heat bakes the desert, the twisters they roar The earth and its people are both keeping score And I've seen this before, in the dust of the road The weight of a crown, a burdensome load

The promise of progress, the rumble of war The same human heart, wanting something more From paper to pixel, the story's the same Just changing the date and changing the name Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the headlines they fly Like leaves in a storm 'neath a wide-open sky A king is brought low, a new one is crowned It's the same old story on this patch of ground The traveler sings what the wire has brung A new verse to a ballad that's endlessly sung