The Daily Ballad

The gavel falls in the marble halls upon the Capitol Hill They're fighting 'bout the people's purse, the coffers to refill One Speaker's out, another's in, the deadline's coming fast A winter government shutdown from a shadow that is cast They draw their lines and make their deals as midnight closes in Just trying to keep the lights on, so the cycle can begin Oh, the headlines spin a tangled yarn, the ink is barely dry

But I've heard this tune a thousand times beneath a worried sky The river rises, river falls, the names just change and fade It's the same old story, newly told, the same old price is paid A man named Powell clears his throat and speaks of interest rates Of slowing down the cost of things that sit on people's plates They talk of landings, soft and hard, of taming the inflation While folks count dimes for gasoline across this weary nation

A family hopes the numbers turn, they hope their jobs will last As whispers of recession blow on a cold November blast Oh, the headlines spin a tangled yarn, the ink is barely dry But I've heard this tune a thousand times beneath a worried sky The river rises, river falls, the names just change and fade It's the same old story, newly told, the same old price is paid Out on the coast, the picket lines of actors finally cease

They fought a ghost inside the wires, for a measure of their peace A battle over words and face, and what a soul is worth Against a mind not born of man upon this spinning earth The writers and the players stood for a human-written page And stepped back onto the boards of a strange and changing stage And all the while the telegrams speak of a far-off, grinding war They ask for aid and arms again, like they've asked for them before

The houses here, they weigh the cost, and argue through the night On who to help and how to pay, and what is wrong or right Oh, the headlines spin a tangled yarn, the ink is barely dry But I've heard this tune a thousand times beneath a worried sky The river rises, river falls, the names just change and fade It's the same old story, newly told, the same old price is paid