Words of Reason

There's a shadow on the horizon a whisper in the breeze Money changers counting while the hungry scrape their knees The suits sit in their towers drafting lines upon the land But the earth shakes beneath 'em; it don't heed their command Oh the wheel keeps turning but it's dragging through the mud A rich man pours a glass of wine the color of spilled blood Voices call for justice they refuse to go away And the sun still rises on another weary day Factories stand empty while the rivers all run dry They trade the trees for dollars and the truth for one big lie The headlines scream division like wolves howling in the night They dim the lamps of reason as they try to kill the light Oh the wheel keeps turning but it's dragging through the mud A rich man pours a glass of wine the color of spilled blood The echoed protests of the past refuse to fade away And the sun still rises on another weary day There's talk of revolution but it's whispered soft and faint The heroes raise their banners but it's only cloth and paint Can't you hear the thunder? It's rolling through the hills The sound of a new generation breaking chains with their wills A child walks to the border a tear on her cheek A worker lifts his hammer but his arms feel weak The fire's getting closer and the air's hard to breathe But poets plant their gardens with words they still believe Oh the wheel keeps turning but it's dragging through the mud A rich man pours a glass of wine the color of spilled blood For too long those in power were allowed to have their way And the sun still rises on another weary day There's commotion down in Washington the circus is in town Politicians fall in line behind the orange clown He plays upon his magic flute a tune we know quite well And leads us down the golden path right to the gates of hell So strum your dusty six-string let the words of reason soar There's a crack in the foundation and it won't hold much more The dawn it might be distant but it's closer than it seems Keep marching through the darkness 'til we wake up from this dream