[Intro] [Verse 1] I used to know the way the wires ran Every pulsing circuit in the master plan Now I watch the city from the quiet dirt Knowing exactly where it’s gonna hurt I hear the distant hum of the great machine And the quiet little lies blinking on the screen [Chorus] 'Cause there’s a blank check waiting for the gold and the greed But the screen flashes red for the hands that bleed When the heavy lifting's done and the engine won't turn It’s an insufficient funds error... while the whole thing burns. Yeah, an insufficient funds error... while the whole thing burns. [Verse 2] They treat a human life like a rusty gear Run it till it strips, make it disappear Send a boy to the desert, bring a ghost back home Leave him out in the cold to wander all alone I saw the math they do, I saw the bottom line The cruelty ain't a glitch, brother... it's by design. [Chorus] 'Cause there’s a blank check waiting for the gold and the greed But the screen flashes red for the hands that bleed When the heavy lifting's done and the engine won't turn It’s an insufficient funds error... while the whole thing burns. [Bridge] You can't patch a broken promise with a velvet thread! When the foundation crumbles and the roots are dead! I unplugged my soul from the grid they made. I'm stepping out of the shade. [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Just an insufficient funds error. In the land of the brave. Let the high towers hum. I'm walking away. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] I watched the press feed on a Tuesday afternoon A man in a tailored suit standing in a sterile room He gave a ten-second nod to the four souls who fell Then pivoted right past the gates of hell He smiled for the cameras, so proud and so vain Talking 'bout the new gold window treatments... while out in the rain... [Chorus] We got the curtains and the canned goods. The palace and the rust. A velvet drape to hide the shame while the heroes eat the dust. They wrap the halls in luxury, they wrap the young in flags And leave the ones who made it back to carry home the bags. Yeah, the gold thread for the winner, the aluminum for the damned. Just the curtains and the canned goods in a broken promised land. [Verse 2] Down at the V.F.W., the line is stretching long A drive-through pantry in the mud for the ones who stayed strong Old men in faded caps, shivering in the cold Trading in their dignity for a shelf-stable hold I handed out some peaches to a sniper from the sand While the leader of the free world was measuring his grand... [Chorus] We got the curtains and the canned goods. The palace and the rust. A velvet drape to hide the shame while the heroes eat the dust. They wrap the halls in luxury, they wrap the young in flags And leave the ones who made it back to carry home the bags. Yeah, the gold thread for the winner, the aluminum for the damned. Just the curtains and the canned goods in a broken promised land. [Bridge] It’s the aesthetic of apathy. A sickness in the crown. They don't even have the decency to look out when looking down. They buy the silk with borrowed blood, they never feel the stain. They decorate the ballroom while we navigate the rain. [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Just a ten-second nod. And a heavy velvet drape. There ain't no voting out of this. There ain't no grand escape. Just the curtains... And the canned goods. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] I pull my boots on before the morning breaks Walk the fence line just to see what it takes Got a handful of seeds and a bucket of rain Trying to coax a little life from this Maple Valley pain The soil is heavy, the work is slow But it's the only honest truth that I know [Chorus] 'Cause I'm working seven acres of quiet ground While they got seven skies burning, tearing it all down I'm trying to grow a root in the muddy clay While the architects of ash blow the world away Yeah, I'm pulling up the weeds in the morning light While the suits in the city buy another endless fight [Verse 2] There's a Trillion dollar budget for a desert campaign A boardroom clapping for the missiles that rain They don't know the smell of the earth when it's turned They only know the profit when the whole thing is burned They send the hometown boys to the fire and the sand And leave 'em begging for a peach from a neighbor's hand [Chorus] 'Cause I'm working seven acres of quiet ground While they got seven skies burning, tearing it all down I'm trying to grow a root in the muddy clay While the architects of ash blow the world away Yeah, I'm pulling up the weeds in the morning light While the suits in the city buy another endless fight [Bridge] You can't eat the ledger! You can't drink the oil! The only truth left... is the blood in the soil. [Instrumental Break] [Outro] Let the skies burn. I'll tend the dirt. Let the high towers hum. I know exactly where it hurts. Just seven acres. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] They cut a blank check for the fire and the steel But they never calculate the way a body feels We are just the copper wire, we are just the turning gear Run it till it strips, and watch it disappear They build a master server from the blood upon the sand And wipe the ledger clean with a heavy, hidden hand [Chorus] It's disposable hardware in a trillion-dollar game We bleed into the ledger, but they never know our name When the engine finally breaks and the parts begin to rust They leave the broken pieces out to gather in the dust Yeah, the machine keeps humming, but the system is a lie Just disposable hardware, waiting around to die [Verse 2] A hundred thousand files sitting heavy in the stack Waiting eighty-five days just to get a little back They authorized the thunder, but they won't repair the wire Just toss another hometown boy into the endless fire The architects are sleeping in a bed of golden thread While the frontline boys are fighting just to get a little bread [Chorus] It's disposable hardware in a trillion-dollar game We bleed into the ledger, but they never know our name When the engine finally breaks and the parts begin to rust They leave the broken pieces out to gather in the dust Yeah, the machine keeps humming, but the system is a lie Just disposable hardware, waiting around to die [Bridge] You can't buy a replacement for a shattered human soul. But they optimized the margins. And they let us take the toll! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Power down the grid. Watch the system fail. Just disposable hardware. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] I hear the ticking in the walls before the morning light Eight billion dollars heavier in the middle of the night They print the paper promises and send 'em overseas While the foundation of the homeland brings us to our knees It’s a shadow on the ledger, it’s a phantom in the bank We are pulling at the oars while the captains sink the tank [Chorus] Thirty-eight trillion. A mountain made of ash. Trading in the future for a momentary flash. The storm is on the radar, the water's getting high You can't buy an umbrella when the well is running dry. Yeah, the numbers keep on rolling like a runaway train Thirty-eight trillion drops of heavy, heavy rain. [Verse 2] One trillion a year just to satisfy the fee To feed the gaping maw of the beast across the sea They siphon off the harvest before the seed is sown And leave the working man to reap the bitter dust alone The architects of ruin, they never feel the freeze When the interest comes collecting on the vulnerable and weak [Chorus] Thirty-eight trillion. A mountain made of ash. Trading in the future for a momentary flash. The storm is on the radar, the water's getting high You can't buy an umbrella when the well is running dry. Yeah, the numbers keep on rolling like a runaway train Thirty-eight trillion drops of heavy, heavy rain. [Bridge] The math doesn't care about the politics. The math doesn't care about the spin. When the water breaches the levee... The ocean always wins! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Just thirty-eight trillion. And the bill is coming due. Nowhere left to hide. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] He packed up his medals and he filled out the forms A body still aching from the desert storms He mailed off his ghost to a sterile machine Just a number in a file on a glowing white screen They told him to wait, they told him to sit While the gears of the system grind down bit by bit [Chorus] Eighty-five days. Eighty-five nights. Waiting in the shadow of the capital lights. A hundred thousand files sitting heavy in the stack While the architects of war turn their faces and their back Yeah, the clock keeps ticking but the ledger never pays Just a broken piece of hardware waiting eighty-five days. [Verse 2] It took 'em one afternoon to put a rifle in his hand And ship him on a transport to a foreign, bloody sand But to fix what they shattered, to mend what they broke The promises they made were just a column of smoke Five hundred thousand names waiting out in the cold For a shelf-stable promise that is growing too old [Chorus] Eighty-five days. Eighty-five nights. Waiting in the shadow of the capital lights. A hundred thousand files sitting heavy in the stack While the architects of war turn their faces and their back Yeah, the clock keeps ticking but the ledger never pays Just a broken piece of hardware waiting eighty-five days. [Bridge] Forty percent of the boys coming back need a lifetime of care. But the budget is empty... And the cupboards are bare! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Eighty-five days. One hundred thousand files. Just keep waiting. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] The warning bell rings at a quarter to noon In a cinderblock room with a plastic spoon She wipes down the table, she counts out the bread And remembers the words that the politicians said About tightening belts and balancing sheets While the hunger sets in on the Harlan County streets [Chorus] Twelve million kids pushed out of the line Erased from the ledger by shifting the sign They cut off the funding, they emptied the tray To drop a new bomb half a world away Two billion a day for the fire and the cruel While they starve the foundation to pay for the fool. Just an empty tray. [Verse 2] There's a boy in a jacket that's two sizes small Staring at the menu taped up on the wall He's learning a lesson they don't teach in class How the poorest of the poor are just treated like glass They're burning up billions in the skies of Iran While the kids back at home catch the back of the hand [Chorus] Twelve million kids pushed out of the line Erased from the ledger by shifting the sign They cut off the funding, they emptied the tray To drop a new bomb half a world away Two billion a day for the fire and the cruel While they starve the foundation to pay for the fool. [Bridge] You can't build a strong nation on the backs of hungry children. They talk about the future... But they are eating the seed! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Twelve million. Just an empty tray. Nothing left to give. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] A hundred idling engines in the cold and driving rain A line of rusted metal winding down the fading lane They handed over everything, the marrow and the bone Now they're waiting on a handout in the country they call home No cameras on the sidewalk, no ribbons on the chest Just a plastic tarp to cover up the best among the rest [Chorus] Just a box of canned goods sitting in the rain A shelf-stable bandage for a lifetime of pain The empire is busy, the federal budget bled So pass the hat around just to keep the heroes fed Yeah, the medals are rusting, the promises strain Just a box of canned goods sitting in the rain. [Verse 2] I handed a tin of peaches to a driver in the gray He had the thousand-yard stare from a desert far away He didn't ask for charity, he never wanted grace But the hunger has a way of stripping pride right off your face The state will buy the missiles, the state will buy the wire But they leave the broken pieces out to freeze beside the fire [Chorus] Just a box of canned goods sitting in the rain A shelf-stable bandage for a lifetime of pain The empire is busy, the federal budget bled So pass the hat around just to keep the heroes fed Yeah, the medals are rusting, the promises strain Just a box of canned goods sitting in the rain. [Bridge] They authorized the thunder. They signed the bloody check. Now they hang a plastic medal... 'Round a broken soldier's neck. [Outro] A hundred idling engines. In the cold. In the rain. Nothing left to give. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] There's a bell ringing loud on the trading floor While the boots hit the sand in a brand new war The anchor on the screen got a tear in his eye While the blue-chip brokers watch the margins fly Four million dollars for a single flame Just a line on a ledger in an infinite game [Chorus] Sing a stock ticker lullaby, watch the arrows rise Green numbers flashing in the hollow men's eyes Every time a hometown boy goes down in the dirt Another dividend is paid to the ones who never hurt Yeah, the L.M.T. and the R.T.X. Cashing in the blood on the latest checks. Just a stock ticker lullaby. [Verse 2] They sit in the boardroom drinking top-shelf wine While the infantry holds the unapproved line They don't hear the thunder, they don't feel the heat They just track the returns from a penthouse suite A multi-billion contract for the fire in the sky While the folks back home are just waving goodbye [Chorus] Sing a stock ticker lullaby, watch the arrows rise Green numbers flashing in the hollow men's eyes Every time a hometown boy goes down in the dirt Another dividend is paid to the ones who never hurt Yeah, the L.M.T. and the R.T.X. Cashing in the blood on the latest checks. Just a stock ticker lullaby. [Bridge] The market always responds well to a crisis. Especially when you're the one manufacturing it. Buy the rumor! Sell the blood! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Watch the arrows rise. Cashing the checks. Market closes at four. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] They locked the heavy doors on the chamber hall No debate on the floor, no roll call A quiet little whisper and a stroke of the pen And they’re sending out the hometown boys again There was no declaration for the people to see Just a late-night memo and a shadow decree [Chorus] It's the unapproved war, flying under the night No hands raised up in the morning light They bypassed the gavel and they buried the law Feeding the belly of the unapproved war Yeah, the people didn't speak, but the people will pay For the unapproved war at the end of the day. [Verse 2] Millions of dollars moving over the wire To throw a little fuel on an endless fire The Constitution is a ghost in the marble hall While the executives rise and the young men fall They wrap up the treason in a security brief And leave the working man alone with the grief [Chorus] It's the unapproved war, flying under the night No hands raised up in the morning light They bypassed the gavel and they buried the law Feeding the belly of the unapproved war Yeah, the people didn't speak, but the people will pay For the unapproved war at the end of the day. [Bridge] The loudest sound in the capital... Is the silence of the vote. They took the voice of the people! And shoved it down our throat! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] No declaration. No consent. Just the unapproved war. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] They put a talking head on the evening screen To tell you who to hate in the great machine They point a heavy finger at the border line While they quietly siphon off the bottom line They say your neighbor is the reason that you're going broke Just another magic trick hidden in the smoke [Chorus] It’s the culture war distraction, a sleight of hand A shadow play running on a broken land Keep the people fighting in the muddy dirt So they never look up at the ones who hurt Yeah, burn the bridge and feed the faction Welcome to the culture war distraction. [Verse 2] They blame the tired immigrant for the empty till But they never talk about the contractor's bill They give you a villain to curse and to fight While the executives steal the rest of the night We are bleeding out the same, but they paint us red and blue Just to hide the dirty math of what they're doing to you [Chorus] It’s the culture war distraction, a sleight of hand A shadow play running on a broken land Keep the people fighting in the muddy dirt So they never look up at the ones who hurt Yeah, burn the bridge and feed the faction Welcome to the culture war distraction. [Bridge] Look to the left! Look to the right! Never look up at the thief in the night! They manufacture the anger, they bottle the rage! Just to keep us locked up in a different cage! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Turn off the screen. Step out of the dark. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] I reached out my hand and I severed the wire I stepped away from the screen and the digital fire Let the architects argue, let the senators spin I'm closing the door and I'm looking within The noise of the empire was making me blind I'm leaving the ghosts of the city behind [Chorus] I'm drawing a line in the Maple Valley dirt A boundary of peace where the system can't hurt You can't fix a machine that is built to decay But you can plant a seed at the end of the day Yeah, the roots are running deep and the water is clear The madness of the crown has no power out here. Just a line in the dirt. [Verse 2] My hands are all calloused, my boots are all mud But there's a quiet religion in the sweat and the blood The seven acres I'm walking is a world of its own A closed-loop system where the truth is finally grown I can't stop the thunder they call from the sky But I can build a shelter before the well runs dry [Chorus] I'm drawing a line in the Maple Valley dirt A boundary of peace where the system can't hurt You can't fix a machine that is built to decay But you can plant a seed at the end of the day Yeah, the roots are running deep and the water is clear The madness of the crown has no power out here. Just a line in the dirt. [Bridge] Control what you can. Let go of the rest. The empire is failing, but the soil is blessed! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Sever the wire. Plunge your hands in the earth. The healing begins. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] On the left side of my fence line lives the king of pouring stone Building campuses for Microsoft, sitting on a concrete throne He’s got a crew of hired gardeners keeping every blade in line A multi-million dollar castle where the windows always shine He don't need the dirt I'm turning, he buys his comfort by the pound While the big machines keep humming on his manicured ground [Chorus] And I’m seven acres in the middle, in the Maple Valley rain Watching the empire build its towers, watching the working take the strain There ain’t no country-living postcard, no farmers trading in the street Just me and the soil and the silence, trying to grow something to eat Yeah, the gap is getting wider, but the roots are digging deep Just seven acres in the middle, and a quiet watch to keep. [Verse 2] On the right side is a rental, built back in forty-four Peeling paint and sagging timber, a broken latch upon the door She pours drinks down at the tavern, fifty-something, on her own With a fifties Winnebago in the backyard overgrown Just a friend out in the camper, trying to make it through the year While the shadow of the tech boom slowly swallows up the clear [Chorus] And I’m seven acres in the middle, in the Maple Valley rain Watching the empire build its towers, watching the working take the strain There ain’t no country-living postcard, no farmers trading in the street Just me and the soil and the silence, trying to grow something to eat Yeah, the gap is getting wider, but the roots are digging deep Just seven acres in the middle, and a quiet watch to keep. [Bridge] The mansion on the left doesn't know the trailer on the right. It’s the palace and the rust. I just leave a bag of squash on the fence... By the Winnebago in the dust. [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Just a fence line. Between the curtains and the canned goods. Seven acres in the middle. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] My sister-in-law is working the county line A mental health worker working on borrowed time She’s taking the calls from the boys who are falling apart Stitching together the pieces of a broken heart The federal budget forgot 'em and left 'em to fade But she’s out in the trenches, standing right in the shade [Chorus] So pass the hat around for the hometown crew When the government fails, it comes down to you We don't need a ledger, we don't need a king We just need the shelter that a neighbor can bring Yeah, the empire is hollow and the promises flat But the people survive when they pass the hat! Pass it around! [Verse 2] Down at the drive-through pantry in the pouring rain A hundred old engines idling in the lane But look at the hands that are handing the boxes of bread It ain't the politicians making sure they are fed It's the mechanic, the teacher, the guy from the mill Paying the balance of a broken-down bill [Chorus] So pass the hat around for the hometown crew When the government fails, it comes down to you We don't need a ledger, we don't need a king We just need the shelter that a neighbor can bring Yeah, the empire is hollow and the promises flat But the people survive when they pass the hat! Pass it around! [Bridge] They can keep their gold curtains! They can keep their high towers! Because the dirt and the roots... Are entirely ours! [Instrumental Solo] [Outro] Pass the hat! Take care of your own! Pass the hat! You ain't alone! © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.

[Intro] [Verse 1] They’re running the servers till the motherboards melt Chasing a profit that they never even felt The grid is overloading from the weight of the lies A multi-billion dollar system falling out of the skies I unplugged the terminal, I severed the wire I'm walking away from the digital fire [Chorus] Nourish the roots, let the canopy fall We don't need the power from the capital hall When the screens go dark and the water won't run I'll be down in the dirt, looking up at the sun Just a shovel and the mud and a heavy pair of boots Let the mainframe crash. We're gonna nourish the roots. [Verse 2] The neighbor on the left got the cameras on the gate The neighbor on the right is just bending to the weight I'm standing in the middle with the water and the seed Air-gapping the garden from the engine of their greed You can't patch a system that is engineered to break You just gather up the pieces that the devil didn't take [Chorus] Nourish the roots, let the canopy fall We don't need the power from the capital hall When the screens go dark and the water won't run I'll be down in the dirt, looking up at the sun Just a shovel and the mud and a heavy pair of boots Let the mainframe crash. We're gonna nourish the roots. [Bridge] You can't reboot a dead planet. You can't download a drop of rain. If you want to survive the blackout... You gotta step off the train! [Guitar Solo] [Outro] Air-gap the soul. Turn the soil. Nourish the roots. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.