The Fire's Slow Burn

The Speaker took the gavel, with a face of stone and wood Another midnight deadline, not quite understood They patched the spending bill again with promises and thread To keep the lights on in the house, while other words were said 'Bout borders and the budget, a familiar, weary fight Just kicking cans along the road into the coming night. Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the pages fly so fast The future's in the headlines, but it feels just like the past

Another story for the road, another town to see From Washington to Wall Street, it's all the same to me They tell the tale in black and white, for all the world to learn Another lesson waiting on the fire's slow burn. The Federal Reserve is meeting, in a quiet, hallowed room To talk of rates and inflation, and stave off coming gloom Mister Powell weighs his words, as the markets hold their breath A quarter point between a boom and economic death

And the price of bread and gasoline, the people feel the strain Praying for a little sun, and hoping for some rain. Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the pages fly so fast The future's in the headlines, but it feels just like the past Another story for the road, another town to see From Washington to Wall Street, it's all the same to me They tell the tale in black and white, for all the world to learn Another lesson waiting on the fire's slow burn.

Out west the winds are howling, and the storms roll off the plains They don't read the papers, they just bring the cleansing rains No debate can stop a flood, no vote can hold the tide There's a bigger story happening, with nowhere left to hide. Oh, the wheel keeps on turning, the pages fly so fast The future's in the headlines, but it feels just like the past Another story for the road, another town to see From Washington to Wall Street, it's all the same to me

They tell the tale in black and white, for all the world to learn Another lesson waiting on the fire's slow burn.