Working hands

Verse 1

Alarm clock crying at a quarter to five

Coffee’s burnt, but it keeps me alive

Steel-toe boots by the door again

Another long day just to make the rent

Mirror don’t lie, lines in my face

Dust in my lungs, time in its place

Mama said, “Boy, stand tall, don’t bend”

So I shake off the ache and I clock back in

Chorus

These working hands, beat up and scarred

Cracked like the roads, tough as they are

Faded tattoos, names I still know

Promises inked that time let go

I don’t shine, I don’t stand out loud

But I built this life with my head down proud

Yeah, I carry the weight where I stand

On these working hands

Verse 2

Knuckles split from the cold last year

Rust and oil, blood and beer

Every line’s got a story to tell

Of nights I was broke but I made it through hell

That eagle on my arm’s barely there

Sun-bleached dreams and county fair prayers

Some folks laugh, say it’s just skin

But it meant something when I believed back then

Chorus

These working hands, worn and slow

Held my kids when they didn’t know

Shook a boss’s, dug a grave

Fixed what I could, broke what I couldn’t save

I don’t preach, I don’t pretend

I just do my part till the bitter end

Yeah, I carved my name in the land

With these working hands

Bridge

I ain’t rich, but I paid my dues

I know sweat, I know truth

If I leave nothing when I’m gone

Let it be proof I was here all along

Verse 3

Sunset hits like a second shift

Back aches but I still lift

Dirt under nails won’t wash away

It’s part of me now, it’s here to stay

I’ll lay my tools down when I can’t stand

Till then I’ll give it all I am

No spotlight, no master plan

Just a man and his working hands

Final Chorus

These working hands, calloused and real

Know the cost, know the deal

Built the fence, paid the bills

Loved my people the best I could still

When the ground takes me where I land

Let the dirt remember the man

Who left his mark in honest spans

With these working hands

Outro

Yeah… these working hands