The Headline Ballad

The morning light on screens so bright Another tale for me to tell Of yesterday's darkness, yesterday's light Pulled from the digital well Before your coffee has been poured Before the day has shown its face I'll sing the news you can't afford To miss in this chaotic place. Oh, the headlines sing a brand new tune Beneath the same old weary moon A different name, a different day But the story's old, in a modern way

The same old fears, the same old fight Sung in the glow of the morning light. Up on the Hill, the clock hands crawl Past midnight's hour, sharp and thin The Speaker's gavel tries to fall On deals where no one seems to win The government will shutter down The checks will stop, the phones won't ring Just ghosts who walk through Washington Another winter, same old thing. Meanwhile the wires start to dream A clever ghost inside the code

It writes the verse and paints the stream And lightens every worker's load Or so they say, with hopeful eyes But unions march and worry grows When a thinking machine can tell you lies And take the only job you know. Oh, the headlines sing a brand new tune Beneath the same old weary moon A different name, a different day But the story's old, in a modern way The same old fears, the same old fight Sung in the glow of the morning light.

You hear these tales of rage and woe And seeds of change they try to sow You think this world is strange and new But I've seen it all, and so have you In books and rhymes from long ago The same old rivers ebb and flow. Oh, the headlines sing a brand new tune Beneath the same old weary moon A different name, a different day But the story's old, in a modern way The same old fears, the same old fight Sung in the glow of the morning light.