Bring Ours Home

[INTRO — RINGING GUITAR, MOVING BASS; VOCAL CALM & CLOSE] Foreign money bought the mill Signed five years to clear the deal Our hands kept turning iron to steel While the profits crossed The Border [VERSE 1 — DRIVING BAND; VOCAL LAYS BEHIND THE BEAT] Trump put fifty on our steel Cliffs’ boss called it necessary Federal help was on the table Still Hamilton paid the fee Then blame the market, blame the trade After cheering on the squeeze Carney drew the contract back: 5 years promised still means 5❗️ They mistook dependence for obedience Thought pressure made their rules Thought being decent meant being weak That honour made us fools [PUNCTUATION REFRAIN — DRY, FOUR HARD BARS] Buy the mill Back the tariff Make the hometown pay the fee FUCK FOREIGN HEGEMONY [CHORUS — OPEN, LONG MELODIC LINES] Bring ours home before the mills go cold Before another town gets bought & sold Trade with the World, let the money run Just don’t give away what can’t be undone Build with the World, take wise deals, we can Keep enough Power in our hands to stand When dependence becomes somebody else’s toll Bring ours Home Bring our power Home [VERSE 2 — TIGHT GROOVE, CONVERSATIONAL] Foreign shareholders keep their stake Keep the dividends they make Shares can stay, returns can flow That doesn’t mean Wall Street runs OUR show Not every share has to change hands To put the final veto in Public hands Keep the stake, keep returns in play Bring strategic control back our way Don’t wave a payroll like a hostage note Then tell us that’s what Freedom wrote Jobs aren’t bargaining chips to spend While somebody else decides how this ends [PRE-CHORUS — VOCAL RISES, BAND STAYS STEADY] Let investment cross the Border Let the contracts earn their keep But nobody buys the right to threaten Everything beneath our feet [CHORUS] Bring it home before forges go cold Before another town gets bought & sold Trade with the World, let the money run Just don’t give away what can’t be undone Build with the World, take every deal we can Keep enough power in our hands to stand When dependence becomes somebody else’s toll Bring OURS home Bring OUR power home [VERSE 3 — DARKER GUITAR, SAME FORWARD MOTION] Prairie grain once carried clout A single desk could bargain out Harper called the break “Marketing Freedom” Then the controlling stake went out G3 came, foreign money followed Saudi state capital in the mix Power looks cheap, when you give it away Costs like hell, wrestling it back [PUNCTUATION REFRAIN — SAME MELODY, HARDER] Sell the leverage Call it Freedom! Let somebody else decree FUCK FOREIGN HEGEMONY! [BRIDGE — HALF-TIME; LOW, KNIFE-EDGE DELIVERY] Democracide doesn’t kick the door It signs the deed & moves offshore First goes leverage, then goes choice Then money starts outweighing Voice Don’t shout “jobs!” after selling the leverage Then call yourself the working man If a boardroom somewhere else can pull the plug Tell me, who controls the plan? [BUILD — BASS MOVES; SNARE GRADUALLY RETURNS] When an asset turns into a weapon Bring strategic control back Home Leave the shares where shares can stay But don’t leave our Future up for sale Nationalize our strategic power! When private leverage goes too far Keep the equity, keep investment Put the Public Interest where the decisions are [INSTRUMENTAL LIFT] They thought honour meant easy pressure Mistook restraint for giving way Good Faith was never surrender We know how to say— [HALF-BAR SILENCE] NO. [FINAL CHORUS — WIDE, EMOTIONAL; NEVER FASTER] Bring OURS home before the lights go cold! Before another generation gets bought & sold Trade with the World, build everything we can But keep enough Power in our hands to stand Let the money move, let good investment grow That doesn’t mean Wall Street runs OUR show When somebody turns our future into a toll— Bring OURS home… Bring OURS home.. [OUTRO — BAND FALLS AWAY] Our steel Our grain Our work Our name We built our House Bring it home