Track Insight / Lyrics
Fog climbs the towers like tide up a beach
You watch the headlights cut a path within reach
The gate arm rises with a groan of old steel
You take the coin, let the heavy wheels heal
Ledger lies open, salt stiffens the page
You've worked this crossing near thirty years' wage
Truckers throw quarters, tourists fumble for change
The river don't care who crosses her range
You count each axle, the river takes its due
Mist on the cables, toll paid in cold dew
Steel sings beneath you, water runs black and deep
You hold the book for promises the river won't keep
Night shift ends slow when the dawn paints the sky
You count the stack, watch the mist drifting by
Gulls scream above you like sirens of old
The bridge keeps its secrets, the river runs cold
You count each axle, the river takes its due
Mist on the cables, toll paid in cold dew
Steel sings beneath you, water runs black and deep
You hold the book for promises the river won't keep
No lamp to trim here, no lens to polish bright
Just steel rope singing through the dead of night
But you know the rhythm, you know the weight
Of every soul that crosses at this gate
Shift change arrives in a dust-colored truck
You hand over keys, don't say very much
The new kid asks how you stand the grey sound
You tap the rail where the wires hum down
Walk down the stairs to the boat on the shore
Don't need a tower to watch anymore
But you'll wake at midnight hearing that tone
Steel cable singing, you're never alone
You count each axle, the river takes its due
Mist on the cables, toll paid in cold dew
Steel sings beneath you, water runs black and deep
You hold the book for promises the river won't keep
The river won't keep
Steel cable singing through the misty dawn
River takes her due when night is gone
