VERSE 1 There's blood on every track That runs from Georgia to the coast The names they never carved in stone Are the ones who matter most They built the lines that built this nation With their hands and with their lives And the history books forgot them But the railroad still remembers Every mile of sacrifice PRE-CHORUS You want to talk about foundations? Talk about the hands that laid them down You want to talk about this country? Talk about who built every town CHORUS Blood on the tracks Blood on the ties Blood in the ground Beneath American skies We built this nation With what nobody sees Blood on the tracks That carried you and me VERSE 2 From the Chinese in the mountains Laying iron through the rock To the Black men in the delta Working railroad round the clock From the Irish in the tunnels To the women holding lines Every back that bent in silence Paid the price for someone's Freedom ride down the line PRE-CHORUS Don't tell me about the glory 'til you tell me about the pain Don't ride the track in comfort 'til you know who laid the grain CHORUS Blood on the tracks Blood on the ties Blood in the ground Beneath American skies We built this nation With what nobody sees Blood on the tracks That carried you and me BRIDGE (slide guitar takes over, primal and raw) I hear them in the slide guitar Every morning when I play The sound of what this country is Beneath what people say The sound of hands on iron The sound of backs on stone The sound of people making home Out of places not their own FINAL CHORUS Blood on the tracks Blood on the ties We are the nation Beneath American skies We built this country Now we're claiming what we're owed Blood on the tracks That always was our road OUTRO (slide guitar fades alone) This land was built by hands that history forgot. We didn't forget.
