The Gavel and the Ghost

In a tower tall in Manhattan's haze The jury sat for thirty-four long days They weighed the books and a long-past sin For a man who let the money spin A former king in a simple suit Hears the gavel fall, the final truth Thirty-four times, the word was read While the city watched and held its breath Oh, the wheel it turns, the story's old Of power gained and fortunes sold The wind still howls, the river flows And another chapter comes to a close Sung on the road, for all I know

It's the same old seed, just a different sow There's a whisper now in the coded wire A voice is born from electric fire An actress hears her own sweet sound On digital ground where she can't be found She never spoke the words they claim But the ghost in the machine still speaks her name They call it Sky, a clever guise Reflected back from her own eyes Oh, the wheel it turns, the story's old Of power gained and fortunes sold The wind still howls, the river flows And another chapter comes to a close

Sung on the road, for all I know It's the same old seed, just a different sow The Texas sun beats a burning drum While tornado sirens start to hum From the plains of dust to the Florida shore The sky is a thing we can't ignore Folks nail the boards and watch the clouds Speaking their prayers in worried crowds Some lose it all to the wind and rain And build it back, to lose again Oh, the wheel it turns, the story's old Of power gained and fortunes sold The wind still howls, the river flows

And another chapter comes to a close Sung on the road, for all I know It's the same old seed, just a different sow