[Verse 1: Work-song male lead, low and heavy over stomping kick and axe-chop snare] Well, the stack behind the mill is ninety feet of soot and brick Rungs gone orange on the north side, every one of 'em a trick Dez went up it at sixteen with a can of red and nerve Put three letters at the top where the pigeons turn and swerve D, E, Z, a fire truck red you could see from the interstate And the city sent a man with grey the next spring, right on date Lord, that grey went over him like a blanket on a bed Well, we climbed and put him back the very week that Dez was dead [Hook: Work-song male lead, full weight, big hand claps, a hah on the one] Touch up, hah, every fall we touch him up Ninety feet of rust and rung to get our hands on him Grey comes in the spring, hah, red comes in the fall Touch up, Lord, we touch him, and he's higher than us all [Verse 2: Work-song male lead, harder, hand claps on every beat, a hah on every fourth] Seven years we've done it, me and Ray and Moe and rain Three states now, three drives, Ray's got kids and Moe's got pain Second Friday in October and we're standin' at the base Three cans of fire red and a rag to clean his face Moe says what Dez said, don't look down, look at the name Hah, and every spring the grey comes, every fall we do the same Well, the grey comes from the city, from a man with a lift and a roller Never met him, but we cuss him every year the air gets colder [Verse 3: Work-song male lead, can rattle, the shaker turns into a spray-can rattle as we near the top] This year Moe's knees made it, Ray was breathin' like a train Eighty feet, eighty-five, hah, and the rungs are slick with rain And I reach up for the grey, and Lord, there isn't any grey It's red, it's fresh, it's wet still, D, E, Z, as bright as day And under it in small block letters, white, a line I didn't know Touched up for you, rest easy, Walt, in a roller's careful flow At the bottom by the fence, a can of grey, unopened, and a lift And a city man in a truck who waved, and drove off on his shift [Hook: Work-song male lead, full weight, big hand claps, a hah on the one] Touch up, hah, every fall we touch him up Ninety feet of rust and rung to get our hands on him Grey comes in the spring, hah, red comes in the fall Touch up, Lord, we touch him, and he's higher than us all [Outro: Work-song male lead, low, hand claps] Well, hah, touch up Lord, three letters at the top, and two men holdin' the rope [End]
0/500