[Verse 1] He rode out with a map and a miner’s grin, Said, “Boys, we’ll carve the crown into the southern wind.” Had a promise in his pocket and a letter from the bank, And a deal writ in diamonds if the rivers all sank [Verse 2] There was a lodge on the hill with velvet and cigars, Where the candles burned sideways beneath the Morning Star They spoke in code and whispers ‘bout the world they’d rearrange And the old man called it “queer,” but he cashed it just the same [Chorus] So shine on, western star — from the Cape to D.C. You changed your accent, but you still drink from the sea From Rhodes to rosewood desks where the globe spins slow The dream lives on in silence where the empire chose to go [Blues lap steel solo] [Verse 3] He said, “Let the Union rule, let the black soil gleam,” But the crown wore foreign colors in the shadow of his dream You can plant a flag in granite, but the soil don’t forget And the brotherhood that built it ain’t broke their circle yet [Bridge] There’s a college up in Oxford with a name that never fades Where the sons of kings and rebels learn the shape of future trades But the marble’s not so British when the funding’s in new hands And the eagle took the scepter like it always was the plan [Chorus] Yeah shine on, western star — in boardrooms and parades You were born beneath the Empire, but you grew up in the States Now the bankers keep the ledger, and the soldiers keep the show And the will was executed — Just not the way he’d wrote [Blues electric guitar solo] [Outro] So play that blues for Cecil, let the horns swell sweet and wide He sold the soil for silver and watched it gild the tide And though the crown was traded, the rhythm never jarred — It just slipped across the ocean With a brighter Western star.
