The Wheel Keeps Turnin'

The autumn air feels heavy, there's a chill in the nation's bones Another man named Powell speaks in low and serious tones He says the cost of bread and gas has got a fever high So he'll raise the rate of interest and watch the markets cry From the checkout line to the boardroom, you can hear the worried hum Of a people holding their breath, waiting for what's to come. Oh, the wheel of history's turnin', just as it's ever done There's nothin' new in the headlines, nothin' new beneath the sun

The names and faces change, my friends, but the story stays the same Just a different kind of trouble, callin' out a different name. Down on the Potomac River, the house is split in two They're arguin' 'bout the budget, what the other side won't do The clock is tickin' downward, threatenin' to lock the doors Another politician's battle in these endless, tired wars They draw their lines in anger, they play their games of might While the country that they swore to serve is just lookin' for a light.

Oh, the wheel of history's turnin', just as it's ever done There's nothin' new in the headlines, nothin' new beneath the sun The names and faces change, my friends, but the story stays the same Just a different kind of trouble, callin' out a different name. They've built a ghost of metal, it lives inside a screen A thinking, talking mirror, the smartest we have seen It learns the way we whisper, it learns the lies we tell And some folks call it progress, and some folks call it hell

It's changing how we gather, it's changing what is true And we ain't yet figured out, child, what this new god's gonna do. But I saw a young man planting a garden in the yard And I heard a new mother singin', though the times are dark and hard They're still falling in love, still patching up the seams Still trying to build a future out of worn and tattered dreams. Oh, the wheel of history's turnin', just as it's ever done There's nothin' new in the headlines, nothin' new beneath the sun

The names and faces change, my friends, but the story stays the same Just a different kind of trouble, callin' out a different name.