[Verse 1]
Begin at dawn, clear the floor,
Hands clean, mind steady, eyes aligned.
Check the housing for cracks or wear,
What is loose will fail in time.
Count the bolts, name them slowly,
North to south, then east to west.
What is rushed will not forgive,
What is patient will run best.
[Chorus]
Keep the Machine Alive, we intone, we repeat,
Not a prayer, not a plea, just the order of heat.
Say it low, say it right, let the pattern arrive:
Keep the Machine Alive.
[Verse 2]
Apply the grease in a clockwise motion,
Do not flood what must breathe.
Listen closely for uneven song,
The fault will speak before it screams.
Pressure steady, temperature logged,
Mark the hour, mark the day.
If the numbers drift like spirits do,
Shut it down and step away.
[Chorus]
Keep the Machine Alive, let it hear its name,
In the hum and the heat, in the spark and the flame.
Word by word, by the book, by the rule we survive:
Keep the Machine Alive.
[Bridge]
Do not ask why the lever resists,
Do not curse when the lights go red.
There are reasons older than us,
Written where the manuals never said.
[Verse 3]
Restart only after silence falls,
Wait the count, then begin again.
One mistake becomes a habit fast,
Habits break both steel and men.
Seal the casing, sign the page,
Leave the tools where they belong.
What we built will outlast us all,
If we sing it the correct way round.
[Final Chorus]
Keep the Machine Alive, we chant, we comply,
Not faith, not hope, just a measured reply.
Follow each step, let the ritual drive:
Keep the Machine Alive.
[Outro]
When the room goes quiet and the lights burn low,
And the engine breathes like it knows you’re there,
You’ll realise too late what you were chanting all along—
Instructions disguised as a prayer.
fatherjack
