Ohio River Shift

[Verse 1]
Steel-toe boots
On a slick brown bank
Coffee in a thermos
Tastes like rust and rain
Whistle hits dawn
Same song again
Clock-in card
And a broke-down crane
[Chorus]
It’s that Ohio River shift
Same mud on my name
Carrying steel and sorrow
Watchin’ barges fade away
Yeah this Ohio River shift
Keeps rollin’ through my bones
I punch in for the wages
Stay late for the soul
[Verse 2]
Boss man barking
From a warm dry chair
Hands so clean
They ain’t touched this air
My back’s been aching
Since ‘ninety-two
Still I laugh with the boys
‘cause what else we gonna do
[Chorus]
It’s that Ohio River shift
Same mud on my name
Carrying steel and sorrow
Watchin’ barges fade away
Yeah this Ohio River shift
Keeps rollin’ through my bones
I punch in for the wages
Stay late for the soul
[Bridge]
One day I’ll trade this badge
For a midnight porch
Let the river talk
Like an old front porch
But ‘til that day
While the sparks still fly
I’ll drag these chains
And let this blue moon cry (oh yeah)
[Chorus]
It’s that Ohio River shift
Same mud on my name
Carrying steel and sorrow
Watchin’ barges fade away
Yeah this Ohio River shift
Keeps rollin’ through my bones
I punch in for the wages
Stay late for the soul

rock, Dusty blues-rock band in a small bar room, male vocals with a worn edge, crunchy tremolo guitar and lazy swing drums; verses ride a mid-tempo shuffle that leans into storytelling, chorus widens with organ swells and stacked call-and-response vocals, bridge strips down to vocal, bass, and rim clicks before the full band kicks back in hard for the final hook, blues