The Story's The Same

The wind off the Potomac blows a familiar chill Another clock is ticking down on Capitol Hill The Speaker holds his gavel, the President his pen And the people in the middle are held hostage again They're talking 'bout the budget, in billions and in cents While the gears of the government grind on in suspense Another line is drawn, another battle cry is made For a story I have seen a thousand times replayed. And the river of time, it just keeps on flowin' New headlines bloom while the old seeds are sowin' I sing you the tale of the power and the pain

It’s a different year, but the story’s the same. Down in the valley of silicon and glass They're building a new future that's arriving too fast With machines that can argue and codes that can dream But a worried-looking whisper runs along the stream A hundred thousand good jobs, vanished in the air A memo on a screen, a cold and empty chair They talk of innovation and the world they're gonna build While another generation's promise goes unfulfilled. And the river of time, it just keeps on flowin' New headlines bloom while the old seeds are sowin'

I sing you the tale of the power and the pain It’s a different year, but the story’s the same. The sky over the west coast has forgotten how to rest An atmospheric river puts the levees to the test While the winter in the east is a ghost of what it was The seasons trade their places, defying all the laws The scientists, they warn us, with numbers and with charts Of a fever in the planet, a tearing at the heart We watch the water rising, we watch the forests burn Another lesson from the earth we're still too slow to learn. Some pray for progress, some just pray for rain

Some curse the politicians and the poison in the grain But everyone is searching for a little patch of sun A moment's peace and quiet before the day is done From the halls of power to the fields of code and wheat It's the same old human heartbeat, bitter and so sweet. And the river of time, it just keeps on flowin' New headlines bloom while the old seeds are sowin' I sing you the tale of the power and the pain It’s a different year, but the story’s the same.