[Verse 1] They are broadcasting the static from the towers in the sky They are planting all the panic and they watch it multiply They weave a heavy thicket out of algorithm thread To tangle up the living and to pacify the dead I cannot find the clearing through the manufactured haze So I am reaching for the timber and I am stepping in the maze. [Chorus] Oh, the shovel feeds the belly but the music feeds the fight! We are cutting through the shadows in the middle of the night! When the television anchors tell you everything is fine, I will swing this heavy rhythm right across the battle line! (Right across the line) Yeah, six steel strings and a heavy wooden scythe Got to cut away the poison just to keep the soul alive! [Verse 2] A song is not a shelter and a song is not a shield But it is the sharpest iron that a working man can wield It carries past the borders that they draw upon the map It is a whisper in the prison, it is the springing of the trap They can buy the printing presses, they can own the copper wire But they cannot stop the acoustic when we set the wood on fire! [Chorus] Oh, the shovel feeds the belly but the music feeds the fight! We are cutting through the shadows in the middle of the night! When the television anchors tell you everything is fine, I will swing this heavy rhythm right across the battle line! (Right across the line) Yeah, six steel strings and a heavy wooden scythe Got to cut away the poison just to keep the soul alive! [Guitar Solo] [Bridge] Swing it low. Cut the weeds. Clear the ground. Plant the seeds. CLEAR IT OUT! [Chorus] Oh, the shovel feeds the belly but the music feeds the fight! We are cutting through the shadows in the middle of the night! When the television anchors tell you everything is fine, I will swing this heavy rhythm right across the battle line! (Right across the line) Yeah, six steel strings and a heavy wooden scythe Got to cut away the poison just to keep the soul alive! [Outro] Keep it alive. Keep the soul alive. © 2026 The Shady River Bard. All rights reserved.
