American Gods

A coin in the dust, a half-made name He crossed the map through the thaw and the rain Wednesday beside him, the road all weather Old gods lean in the roadside grain They sleep in the wires, in the grit and the rust Thin as a prayer turning slowly to dust Every town has a little hunger Every altar takes its due They murmur "remember us" under the thunder And the silence answers back in something true People believe. That's the whole machinery Believe in them, and they live in the bone Believe in nothing, and nothing answers Old gods wither where the living have gone What America gives, America takes away The hungry land keeps its own accounting People believe. That's the whole machinery Names fade, but the need goes on He learned the bargain in motel light The trick of the small, bright, deadly miracle Faith as currency, blood as witness And the world split open by what it needs By the cheap room's unforgiving wall He saw the con in the carnival's call Knew every gift is a debt you recall Every town has a little hunger Every altar takes its due They murmur "remember us" under the thunder And the silence answers back in something true People believe. That's the whole machinery Believe in them, and they live in the bone Believe in nothing, and nothing answers Old gods wither where the living have gone What America gives, America takes away The hungry land keeps its own accounting People believe. That's the whole machinery Names fade, but the need goes on "There are no new gods." Only old powers, re-skinned in glare Under the static, under the blacktop Something ancient keeps learning air People believe. That's the whole machinery Believe in them, and they live in the bone Believe in nothing, and nothing answers Old gods wither where the living have gone What America gives, America takes away The hungry land keeps its own accounting People believe. That's the whole machinery Names fade, but the need goes on Believe. Remember. Remember us... remember us... Old gods ride... Remember us... remember us... Old gods ride...