Just A Working Man

Intro
(Solitary, raw acoustic guitar strumming)
(Lonesome harmonica enters, fading into a chugging train-beat drum rhythm)
​[Verse 1]
Alarm clock ringing at five A.M.,
Wipe the grease off my knuckles again.
Steel-toe boots by the kitchen door,
Counting out change on the hardwood floor.
Price of butter went up a dime,
While they cut twenty minutes of my overtime.
Put my boots on, pour my coffee black,
Got a wife and two kids depending on my back.
​[Pre-Chorus]
(Telecaster guitar twang, bassline heavy and steady)
They call it living, but it feels like a fight,
Trading my blood for a little electric light.
​[Chorus]
(Full band kicks in, soaring pedal steel, gritty baritone vocals)
I’m just a working man, trying to buy the bread,
Putting a roof over four young heads.
Squeezing blood from a stone, pulling weight for the till,
’Cause the grocery line don't care how I feel.
No, I ain’t asking for a gold-plated crown,
Just trying to keep the wolf from breaking door down.
​[Verse 2]
(Driving rhythm, prominent acoustic strumming and subtle fiddle fill)
Gas tank's sitting on a flickering red,
Bills on the table that I haven't read.
Supervisor talking 'bout company gains,
While I’m breaking my joints in the pouring rain.
Work my fingers straight down to the bone,
Just to bring a little portion of my paycheck home.
​[Chorus]
(Full band energy, driving drums, weeping pedal steel guitar)
I’m just a working man, trying to buy the bread,
Putting a roof over four young heads.
Squeezing blood from a stone, pulling weight for the till,
’Cause the grocery line don't care how I feel.
No, I ain’t asking for a gold-plated crown,
Just trying to keep the wolf from breaking door down.
​[Solo]
(Raw, bluesy Telecaster guitar solo blending into a crying pedal steel guitar performance)
​[Bridge]
(Stripped back rhythm, heavy bass and kick drum, gravelly vocal tone)
They say hard work builds a honest soul,
But it’s a heavy damn price when the furnace gets cold.
Yeah, the bankers win and the bosses thrive,
While a man’s just fighting to stay alive.
​[Chorus]
(Maximum intensity, booming drums, grit in lead vocals)
I’m just a working man, trying to buy the bread,
Putting a roof over four young heads.
Squeezing blood from a stone, pulling weight for the till,
’Cause the grocery line don't care how I feel.
No, I ain’t asking for a gold-plated crown,
Just trying to keep the wolf from breaking door down.
​[Outro]
(Guitar chugs along, tempo gradually slowing down)
Yeah, keeping that wolf away...
One sweat-soaked dollar at a time.
(Lonesome harmonica solo fades out with final acoustic guitar strum)
(Silence)