The Old Refrain

The morning paper's cold and thin Tells you where the trouble's been From a D.C. desk, a man lays down the law That's Jerome Powell and the Federal flaw He says the numbers have to bend So this inflation meets its end But the price of gas and a loaf of bread Weighs on the heart and on the head Oh, the headlines roll like a thunderin' train Through the driving wind and the pourin' rain It's a different year, but the song's the same Just a new verse in an old refrain

Of the powerful, the poor, the pride, the pain Under the Capitol's marble dome A house divided, far from home They draw their lines and shout their creed While the harvest rots right on the weed The left hand argues with the right Turns the day into the longest night And the people wait for a helping hand Lost in the noise across the land Oh, the headlines roll like a thunderin' train Through the driving wind and the pourin' rain It's a different year, but the song's the same

Just a new verse in an old refrain Of the powerful, the poor, the pride, the pain And a new ghost whispers in the wire A thinking spark, a digital fire They call it AI, a brand new brain To build our world or break the chain Meanwhile the western sky glows red The smoke of burning forests spread And the ocean sighs a warmer tune Beneath the pale and angry moon Oh, the headlines roll like a thunderin' train Through the driving wind and the pourin' rain

It's a different year, but the song's the same Just a new verse in an old refrain Of the powerful, the poor, the pride, the pain