The Spinner's Reel

The men who watch the nation's gold Tell stories that are centuries old They hold the rates and wait for signs Reading fortunes in the market lines While folks pull belts a little tight And hope for dawn to break the night They say the fever's cooling down In every worried, waiting town Oh, gather 'round and listen close To how the modern river flows I've sung this song in dust and rain The names all change, the truths remain A different year, a different town

The same old world keeps spinning 'round Two families on opposing shores Have bolted shut their heavy doors They shout their cause across the tide With equal parts of hurt and pride November's wind begins to rise Reflected in a million eyes They draw their lines upon the sand To claim their piece of this good land Oh, gather 'round and listen close To how the modern river flows I've sung this song in dust and rain The names all change, the truths remain

A different year, a different town The same old world keeps spinning 'round A clever ghost inside the wire Has learned to speak with human fire It stole a voice, a silver sound From echoes that it simply found The artist cries, "That soul is mine!" A shadow born of new design We build our gods from glass and light And fear them in the coming night The southern sky turned sickly green The meanest wind you've ever seen It tore the roofs from Iowa's plains

And washed the world in Texas rains Now folks search rubble, call a name In a familiar, fiery game And build again on broken ground The only home they've ever found So is it progress? Is it doom? The cradle, or the coming tomb? The banker's fear, the voter's plea The wild storm from a boiling sea It's human greed and human grace Reflected in this troubled place Oh, gather 'round and listen close To how the modern river flows

I've sung this song in dust and rain The names all change, the truths remain A different year, a different town The same old world keeps spinning 'round