Grin of Polished Glass

[Intro] (Instrumental build: agung pulsing, tremolo bandurria, slide steel guitar) [Verse 1] They print the paper with a heavy thumb Folding the map until the edges numb The suit is pressed, the corner office dim They trace the lines where life grows thin A hollow promise written on the gate To hide the iron weight of settled fate [Refrain 1] Look past the ink that bleeds across the page Before you step inside the gilded cage [Chorus] They offer up a grin of polished glass While harvest yields are burning in the grass The smoke they blow to blur the open eye Can’t reach the summit where the eagles fly Strip away the varnish from the wall And catch the wreckage when the curtains fall [Verse 2] The mountain village holds its breath tonight The timber line recedes from honest sight A ledger keeps the tally of the stream But hides the poison underneath the scheme They speak in tongues of progress and of gold Buying the stories that have not been told [Refrain 2] The gavel drops before the case is heard The throat is choked to stifle every word [Chorus] They offer up a grin of polished glass While harvest yields are burning in the grass The smoke they blow to blur the open eye Can’t reach the summit where the eagles fly Strip away the varnish from the wall And catch the wreckage when the curtains fall [Verse 3] Deep in the bayou where the cypress lean The water carries all they left unseen Beneath the surface of the quiet tide The rust of progress has nowhere to hide They claim the land belongs to their design Ignoring how the tangled roots entwine [Chorus] They offer up a grin of polished glass While harvest yields are burning in the grass The smoke they blow to blur the open eye Can’t reach the summit where the eagles fly Strip away the varnish from the wall And catch the wreckage when the curtains fall [Bridge] Pull back the curtain, let the tension break The price of silence is the life we stake Count every tremor in the shifting ground Truth is the only thing that won’t be drowned [Verse 4] The storm is gathering above the plains Where iron giants struggle in the chains The light is shifting as the morning breaks Exposing every path that virtue takes Leave the deception in the wake of night And hold your gaze against the blinding white [Refrain 3] The mask is slipping as the fever wanes The power breaks beneath the heavy rains [Outro] See the fracture in the polished stone You stand among the crowd, but not alone (Instrumental fades with pulsing agung and long steel guitar sustain)