Builders Don'T Bow

Before the crown.
Before the tower.
Before the speech.
Somebody poured the footing.
Somebody froze on the beam.
Somebody carried the weight.
Hard hat dawn
black coffee breath
Steel toe prayers
on a stairway edge
Rigger on rope
welder on spark
Driver on ice
with the road gone dark
Logger in rain
hand split red
Single mom counting
what the rent just bled
Old man limping
but he still shows first
Young kid learning
what a sore back's worth
Nobody claps
when the load gets laid
Nobody names
who the tower was made
But the glass shines high
and the rich men speak
Standing on hours
they would not
work a week
Hands make roads
Hands make walls
Hands hold lines
when the clean men fall
No throne here
No knees down
We lift the world
without a crown
Builders don't bow
We brace and we rise
Your towers stand up
On our overtime
Builders don't bow
We carry,
we climb
No crown in the cold
Just a hand
on the line
Builders don't bow
We don't break,
we don't bend
We build what you own
Then we build it again
I got love
for the ones
with the frost
in their coat
The ones who still work
when the rich man votes
Cuts on the knuckle
dust in the lung
Bills in the pocket
and a song unsung
They don't need medals
They don't need fame
They need safe boots
and a fair day's pay
They need sons coming home
with their hands still whole
They need heat
in the house
when the north wind rolls
So I stand with them
where the hard hats glow
Where the cold bites deep
and the pay moves slow
Metronome stepper
through the yard at night
North Star over
every worksite light
Hands make roads
Hands make walls
Hands hold lines
when the clean men fall
No throne here
No knees down
We lift the world
without a crown
Builders don't bow
We brace and we rise
Your towers stand up
On our overtime
Builders don't bow
We carry,
we climb
No crown in the cold
Just a hand
on the line
Builders don't bow
We don't break,
we don't bend
We build what you own
Then we build it again
A man who builds
knows weight.
A man who carries
knows truth.
A man who works
knows who lies.
Because lies are light.
Concrete is not.
Steel is not.
A family is not.
A promise is not.
Who poured the floor.
We did.
Who raised the wall.
We did.
Who held the rope.
We did.
Who wears the crown.
No one.
Who wears the crown.
No one.
Who wears the crown.
No one.
Builders don't bow
We brace and we rise
Your towers stand up
On our overtime
Builders don't bow
We carry,
we climb
No crown in the cold
Just a hand
on the line
Builders don't bow
We don't break,
we don't bend
We build what you own
Then we build it again
Black coffee.
Steel toes.
Rope tight.
Line held.
Builders don't bow.