(Verse 1 - The Lineman)
(Call) I’m six fathoms up on a rotted-out pine
(Response) Watch the juice, watch the line
(Call) Got a hot-stick reaching for a buckled-up phase
(Response) Earn your keep, catch the blaze
(Call) My hooks are digging deep and the transformer’s humming
(Response) Can’t you hear the storm a-coming?
(Call) I’m tying back the secondary in the pouring rain
(Response) Write the check, hide the pain.
(Chorus)
And it’s a long, slow drag at the bottom of the clock
Between a hard-headed boss and a mountain of rock.
We’re just meat for the grinder and grease for the gear
Trading all our golden days for a lukewarm beer.
Yeah, the knees go stiff and the back starts to go
But the bills don't care if the work is getting slow.
Roll us out, wear us down, keep the hammer on the strike
Just another day of living that we don’t much like.
(Verse 2 - The Roughneck)
(Call) Throw the tongs on the joint, let the rotary spin
(Response) Get the mud, get the win
(Call) We’re tripping pipe deep in the West Texas heat
(Response) Iron toes, burning feet
(Call) The pusher’s on the floor and he’s screaming for the bit
(Response) Take the grease, swallow it
(Call) We’re making hole fast but the pay is looking thin
(Response) Hook it up, start again.
(Chorus)
And it’s a long, slow drag at the bottom of the clock
Between a hard-headed boss and a mountain of rock.
We’re just meat for the grinder and grease for the gear
Trading all our golden days for a lukewarm beer.
Yeah, the knees go stiff and the back starts to go
But the bills don't care if the work is getting slow.
Roll us out, wear us down, keep the hammer on the strike
Just another day of living that we don’t much like.
(Verse 3 - The Steelworker)
(Call) Skim the dross off the top of the number four pot
(Response) Keep it moving, keep it hot
(Call) The ladle’s swinging wide and the furnace is a-roar
(Response) Feed the beast, ask for more
(Call) Twelve hours on the slab with a respirator mask
(Response) Finish up, do the task
(Call) My lungs are full of soot and my ears are full of ring
(Response) Iron man, puppet string.
(Chorus)
And it’s a long, slow drag at the bottom of the clock
Between a hard-headed boss and a mountain of rock.
We’re just meat for the grinder and grease for the gear
Trading all our golden days for a lukewarm beer.
Yeah, the knees go stiff and the back starts to go
But the bills don't care if the work is getting slow.
Roll us out, wear us down, keep the hammer on the strike
Just another day of living that we don’t much like.
(Bridge)
From the dirt to the wire to the sparks in the mill
If the labor don't break you, then the boredom surely will.
We’re a brotherhood of callouses and bad-weathered skin
Waiting for the weekend just to start it all again.
(Chorus)
(Outro)
HamCheck
