Residual Risk Rodeo
A roots-and-metal hazard assessment that keeps returning to the distinction between the loud thing in the room and the actual source of harm.
Creative context: The narrator is a creative voice, not automatically the artist. This song is not presented as verified reporting or a factual allegation about any particular person or employer.
Track player
This recording is served from the BridgeIncluded archive. View Suno source ↗
Words & signal
[Verse 1]
The chair said, "Boys, it's loud and bright,
that banjo's surely where the trouble ignites."
I wiped my hands on a shop rag clean,
said, "You can blame the shine, but that ain't the scene."
"Then what is?" "Upstream, farther back,
where the plan went crooked on the first rough track."
"You mean the tool?" "No, look again,
it's the map they drew with a coffee stain."
[Pre-Chorus]
Who signed off fast?
Who skipped the walk?
Who called it fine
and kept on talkin'?
[Chorus]
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
[Verse 2]
They said, "That squeal will make men jump."
I said, "A missed guard will do that, and then some."
They said, "That tune points fingers plain."
I said, "So does a night shift split by rain."
Fatigue had teeth by the end of the run,
and the radio crackled like a bad day drum.
One hand said "wait," one voice said "go,"
and a third one vanished in the white road snow.
[Pre-Chorus]
Who was tired?
Who was late?
Who let the message
come too great?
[Chorus]
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
[Verse 3]
Out by the bridge deck near the Wasi River,
morning frost still clung to the steel like shiver.
Permit rushed in before the kettle cooled,
with three boxes checked and two more fooled.
Somebody reached for an easy name
to put in the box and dull the shame.
I said, "If you need one word for the door,
write 'hurry' there, and nothing more."
[Bridge]
On the deck by the Wasi, with the river below,
the honest wind said what we all should know:
a name is cheap when the facts run thin,
and blame gets loud when the truth comes in.
So slow it down, let the controls stand tall,
don't hand one poor player the weight of it all.
[Chorus]
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
The banjo is not the hazard, boys, it only tells you where you are
Look upstream for the loose old bolts and downstream for the scar
[Outro]
So check the plan, check the guard, check the line,
check the tired hands and the rushed-in time.
The tune can ring, and the truth can too:
we fix what failed, and we tell it true.