[Verse 1] Old men talking in a marble room Carving up the map with a silver blade Ten-ton engine in the heavy gloom Counting on the debt that the young blood paid Black smoke drifting off the railroad ties Steel in the belly of the morning train Cover up your ears while the headline lies Washing all the brass in a fresh red rain [Chorus] Sound the march, strike the iron core Here they come with the drums of war Shovel up the ash, let the furnace burn Nobody listens and nobody learns Ain't a dime in it for the boots that tread Just another ribbon for the quiet dead Hammer on the rim till the rafters shake Take every drop that the soul can take [Verse 2] Letters pile high on the kitchen pine Dry dirt choking out the harvest field Guards march double on the county line Trading in the seed for a copper shield Tell me that the flag needs another name Tell me that the fire is a sacred light Everybody whispers in the hollow frame Nobody's sleeping in the town tonight [Chorus] Sound the march, strike the iron core Here they come with the drums of war Shovel up the ash, let the furnace burn Nobody listens and nobody learns Ain't a dime in it for the boots that tread Just another ribbon for the quiet dead Hammer on the rim till the rafters shake Take every drop that the soul can take [Bridge] (Half-time, heavy syncopated chugs) March on. Count down. Rattle in the throat of a ghost-built town. No names on the lead. No peace in the trade. Just a dirty ditch where the bargain's made. Pound it down! Strike the floor! We ain't buying what you're fighting for! [Guitar Solo / Heavy Breakbeat Breakdown] [Chorus] Sound the march, strike the iron core Here they come with the drums of war Shovel up the ash, let the furnace burn Nobody listens and nobody learns Ain't a dime in it for the boots that tread Just another ribbon for the quiet dead Hammer on the rim till the rafters shake Take every drop that the soul can take [Outro] (Drums strip down to sub and kick) Sound the march. Burn the floor. Drums of war. Silence.
