[Spoken Word] They came on a Tuesday morning With papers and their lawyer's smile Said the mill's been sold to someone Who don't live around here for miles But old Sam just kept on working His hands dark with grease and time And Mary at the diner Poured another cup, said "We'll be fine" [Instrumental intermezzo] [Spoken word] This ain't just some wood and iron, Or a number on a page. It's the story of our fathers, Written out in rust and age. They can buy the dirt we walk on, But they don't own the hand, And the mill will stand. [Instrumental intermezzo] [Spoken Word] By evening there were twenty folks Standing quiet by the gate Not with signs or angry voices Just bodies saying "Wait" There was Jimmy from the lumber yard And both the Carson girls The preacher and the postman And the barkeep, Pete McCurl [Instrumental intermezzo] [Spoken word] We're the Carson girls and Jimmy, We're the preacher and we're Pete. We're the silence that they're hearing, In the middle of the street. A human chain of memory, A line drawn in the sand, And the mill will stand. [Bridge] It ain't about the speeches Or the rightness of the law It's the knowing when you're standing That you're not alone at all [Instrumental intermezzo] [Spoken Word] Three weeks now and they're still there Taking turns through rain and cold Nobody's saying much about it Just a story being told About a place that held together When the breaking point came round About the quiet kind of courage That don't make a sound [Instrumental intermezzo] [Spoken word] Let the seasons come and turn now, Let the rain and winter bite. There are things that you can't purchase, With a lawyer's black and white. It's a legend for our children, A fire we have fanned, And the mill will stand. The mill will stand. [Outro] The mill will stand.
