Cold coffee in a plastic cup
Sun ain't even waking up
Grease is popping on the flat top grill
The morning air is sharp and chill
Down the hall where the basement sleeps
A heavy iron secret keeps
Old ribbons stained a rusty red
Where every honest word was said
Ink and iron, black on white
Hammering through the dead of night
Click and clack on a metal plate
Writing out a heavy fate
Steel keys frozen in a row
Nowhere left for the ink to go
Paper yellow like a smoker's tooth
Holding tight to a jagged truth
Ink and iron, black on white
Hammering through the dead of night
Click and clack on a metal plate
Writing out a heavy fate
No more fingers on the plastic keys
No more begging on the bended knees
Just a heavy weight of lead and oil
While the midnight diner coffee boil
I scrub the grill and I flip the meat
While the city wakes on a concrete street
That machine is waiting in the dark
Waiting for a single living spark
It don't need a plug or a blinking light
Just a steady hand to make it right
Built to last and built to take a blow
Like the regulars who come and go
Ink and iron, black on white
Hammering through the dead of night
Click and clack on a metal plate
Writing out a heavy fate
Just ink and iron
Click clack, click clack
Deep in the basement
(Final heavy stomp)
