Creosote tar on my weathered spine
Lineman climbs in morning light
Pine sap drips where the insulators shine
He checks the tension makes it right
Pine line humming in the foggy dawn
Voices ride the copper thread
Winter storms can't snap the bond we own
Carrying the words the living said
Cedar scent climbs up the crossarm wood
Splicer's knife strips back the woven sheath
Static cracks where the connection stood
He breathes the air underneath
Pine line humming in the foggy dawn
Voices ride the copper thread
Winter storms can't snap the bond we own
Carrying the words the living said
Forty years I've held the talking wire
Watched the forest swallow up the road
Parties ended children now retired
Only wind knows the heavy load
Pine line humming in the foggy dawn
Voices ride the copper thread
Winter storms can't snap the bond we own
Carrying the words the living said
New fiber sleeps in the ditch below
Glass threads glowing cold and deep
But I still carry the dial tone's glow
Promises the copper keeps
Lightning scar on my western flank
Ice storm bowed me to the ground
Still the current finds its path and rank
Singing through the frozen sound
Lineman's belt wears leather smooth and brown
He pats my side before descent
Good pole he says the only sound
Years measured out in wire spent
Pine line humming in the foggy dawn
Voices ride the copper thread
Winter storms can't snap the bond we own
Carrying the words the living said
Copper sings in salt air
Pine line standing tall
