[Verse 1] The fields are thin and brown The table comes up bare Mothers count the grain Like prayer upon prayer Doors stay shut on fever nights Bones under every wall And the old men say the same We have seen it all [Pre-Chorus] But the smoke keeps rising From the broken town And every plea we shout Just falls back down [Chorus] It spins away It spins away No hand can hold the day It spins away It spins away And never stops to say [Verse 2] A judge in polished boots Takes bread from trembling hands A child learns the cost Of living in these lands The banners change their color The graves stay in a row Blood on every border Where the cold winds blow [Pre-Chorus] We call for mercy We call for peace But the wheel turns on And does not cease [Chorus] It spins away It spins away No hand can hold the day It spins away It spins away And never stops to say [Bridge] I heard the bells at dawn They shook but did not wake The river kept its course The iron sky still drank So sing for the hungry Sing for the slain Sing till your throat is ash Then sing again [Final Chorus] It spins away It spins away No hand can hold the day It spins away It spins away And never stops to say It spins away It spins away Through famine, fire, and shame It spins away It spins away And leaves us with our name
