The Same Old Fear

Two old men on a floodlit stage Turning history's next new page One with a whisper, one with a roar Fighting a battle they've fought before The nation watches on a silver screen Caught in the somewhere that's in between They talk of futures that they will build On a foundation cracked and filled Oh, the newsman cries and the ink runs black On a story that we've seen and will see back It's a different name and a different year But the same old hope and the same old fear The wheel of headlines just keeps on turning

Another lesson we're not quite learning Down the marble halls where the echoes sleep Nine robed figures a secret keep They weigh the balance of wrong and right And send their words out into the light A gavel falls, a decision's made A path is chosen, a future laid And folks in town from the coast to coast Debate the freedom they've won or lost Oh, the newsman cries and the ink runs black On a story that we've seen and will see back It's a different name and a different year But the same old hope and the same old fear

The wheel of headlines just keeps on turning Another lesson we're not quite learning But the sun don't care for a written law Or the brittle words from a leader's jaw The mercury climbs, the river runs low It's the oldest story that we all know The asphalt melts and the cicadas drone A power greater than any throne Oh, the newsman cries and the ink runs black On a story that we've seen and will see back It's a different name and a different year But the same old hope and the same old fear The wheel of headlines just keeps on turning

Another lesson we're not quite learning