[Intro] The bench can hold The vise can grip The hand can swear The blade can slip But set the square Against the line And crooked work Runs out of time [Verse 1] I brought the frame in proud Said Look how good it stands Four corners Four clean edges Built by careful hands I measured once I measured twice I drove the nails in true Then the old square touched the timber And told on what I knew One side leaning One edge shy One little angle Living a lie No thunder No accusation No bright courtroom view Just ninety degrees Standing there Telling on you [Pre-Chorus] The square don’t flatter The square don’t praise The square don’t care How long it took to raise The square don’t hate The square don’t choose It only shows Where straight went loose [Chorus] The square tells on you When the line runs wrong When the wall looks proud But it won’t stand long The square tells on you When the eye says fine Sets one cold edge Against the line The square tells on you No sermon No plea What isn’t true Won’t stay true Just because you disagree [Verse 2] I have made a crooked sentence Sound righteous in the room Given bad grain polish Given error room to bloom I have called a thing completed Because I wanted to be done I have held it to the daylight And mistaken shine for sun But shine ain’t square And pride ain’t plumb A loud hand still Can build something dumb You can love the work You can mean it well And still build crooked As fucking hell [Pre-Chorus] Intent don’t square it Effort don’t either A crooked beam Still pulls the ceiling The maker can swear The maker can plead But the square keeps asking What did you actually build? [Chorus] The square tells on you When the line runs wrong When the wall looks proud But it won’t stand long The square tells on you When the eye says fine Sets one cold edge Against the line The square tells on you No sermon No plea What isn’t true Won’t stay true Just because you disagree [Bridge] Bench for the burden Vise for the claim Square for the angle That won’t hold its name Hand for the choosing Blade for the seam Time for the structure To answer the dream Do not blame pressure Do not blame wood Do not call crooked Almost good Put the square down Let it show Where the quiet error Started to grow [Breakdown] Check the corner Check the frame Check the line Against the name Check the promise Check the seam Check the thing Against the scheme One degree Then two Then three Small crooked Still ain’t free [Verse 3] Some lies wear work boots Some lies wear gold Some lies get repeated Till the crooked thing looks old Some rooms learn the leaning Some houses learn the bend Some people call it normal Because they lived there to the end But the square remembers What the eye let slide It lays itself against the work And strips away the pride No anger No revenge No need to make it new Just one straight edge Against the thing And the square tells on you [Final Chorus] The square tells on you When the line runs wrong When the wall looks proud But it won’t stand long The square tells on you When the eye says fine Sets one cold edge Against the line The square tells on you And the hand must choose Straighten what can still be straightened Or live inside the skew [Outro] The bench holds The vise grips The square does not accuse It only stands Beside the line And tells you What you built
