That Cool Steel Bridge

[Verse 1]
Down by the Wasi where the gravel runs clean,
We found her sleeping in the jack pine green.
Rivets like stars in a night-shift sky,
That cool steel bridge with a will to fly.

[Chorus]
That cool steel bridge, standing in my mind,
Seventy feet of reason I ain’t leaving behind.
Set her on footings where the shorelines rhyme,
That cool steel bridge… give me time.

[Verse 2]
We sketched out the grades in the frost and the light,
Tape on my sleeve and a pencil to bite.
Dad’s old notes and a thermos of black,
Every line we drew pulled the future back.

[Chorus]
That cool steel bridge, standing in my mind,
Seventy feet of reason I ain’t leaving behind.
Set her on footings where the shorelines rhyme,
That cool steel bridge… give me time.

[Banjo Break — 8 bars]
[Fiddle Break — 8 bars]

[Verse 3]
When the crane starts singing and the rigging goes tight,
You’ll feel that heartbeat under boots at night.
Across that river where the cold winds slide,
We’ll walk that span with a little more pride.

[Final Chorus — x2, tag last line]
That cool steel bridge, standing in my mind,
Seventy feet of reason I ain’t leaving behind.
Set her on footings where the shorelines rhyme,
That cool steel bridge… give me time.
(That cool steel bridge… give me time.)