THE
LYRICS

Jukebox Dust & Iron

Verse 1

Two blocks from the river where the whistle cuts the dawn My uncle's dusty jukebox played the records no one wanted on Stax and stolen London blues, a quarter and a prayer I learned to sing above the noise like iron in the air

Pre-Chorus

The room was loud, the beer was cheap So I sang it from the bottom where the iron runs deep

Chorus

Jukebox dust and iron That's the blood inside my song No sugar on the fire I've been loud my whole life long You can sand away the edges You can try to make me shine But I was born of dust and iron And the iron's always mine

Verse 2

A man in a silver suit said, honey, soften up the tone Give me breath and give me sweetness, give me something they can own I set the headphones on the console and I walked out in the snow Some voices aren't for sale, and mine was one of those

Pre-Chorus

East side warehouse, wood on the walls An old radio man let us rattle the halls

Chorus

Jukebox dust and iron That's the blood inside my song No sugar on the fire I've been loud my whole life long You can sand away the edges You can try to make me shine But I was born of dust and iron And the iron's always mine

Bridge

Dez brought the thunder low and mean Kwame swore he'd never play a clock machine Jimmy kept his fire for the space between Ilya made the Steinway shake the floor Smoke blew his horn till it growled for more Five strangers in the cold, and I was the core

Verse 3

Now the radios on Woodward play it up and down the street But I still hear that jukebox and the whistle and the heat Every crowd that sings it back, I sing it to that room Where a girl stood with a broken mic and nothing left to lose

Final Chorus

Jukebox dust and iron That's the blood inside my song No sugar on the fire I've been loud my whole life long You can sand away the edges You can try to make me shine But I was born of dust and iron And the iron's always mine

Outro

Dust and iron Always mine

Motor City Sermon

Spoken Word Verse 1

July of sixty-seven and the air was thick as tar Nine years old on a tar-paper roof, counting every burning car Twelfth Street lit up orange like a sky that lost its mind Mama on the stairwell saying baby, don't you look behind But I looked I looked at the smoke and I looked at the flame I looked at the soldiers on the corner calling out the city's name I looked at the tanks rolling slow down the boulevard below And I swore to God I would remember everything I know

Hook

This is a Motor City sermon Preached from the ashes and the smoke Every brick they knocked down Is a word we never spoke Burn it, build it, burn it Lord, we rise up out the coal This is a Motor City sermon Written on my soul

Spoken Word Verse 2

Next morning the sky was the color of a nickel left out in the rain Mrs. Baptiste swept the glass from her shop and she opened it again Corner boys with buckets, church ladies with the bread Old men slapping dominoes on the porches of the dead Nobody came to save us, so we saved what we could hold Hammer, nail and gospel, that is how this city got its soul

Chant

Who's gonna build it (We gonna build it) Who's gonna build it (We gonna build it)

Hook

This is a Motor City sermon Preached from the ashes and the smoke Every brick they knocked down Is a word we never spoke Burn it, build it, burn it Lord, we rise up out the coal This is a Motor City sermon Written on my soul

Bridge

Mama took my hand that night and said child, now hear me true Hate's a match you strike against your heart, and it burns you too So I took the fire she warned me of and put it in a song Turned the burning into music and I've sung it all along

Build

Rise up Rise up Rise up, Detroit

Climax

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiise

Final Hook

This is a Motor City sermon Preached from the ashes and the smoke Every brick they knocked down Is a word we never spoke Burn it, build it, burn it Lord, we rise up out the coal This is a Motor City sermon Written on my soul

Outro

Detroit Still standing

Grande Ballroom Brawl

Verse 1

Nineteen seventy-five and the Grande's packed to the beams Velvet Vipers on the poster in their glitter and their dreams They got a record deal, a smoke machine, a limo at the door We got borrowed amps and a busted van and a basement on the floor

Pre-Chorus

They said go home, little Detroit girl I said honey, I am home

Chorus

It's a Grande Ballroom brawl Throw your glitter at the wall We don't need a light show We don't need a fog machine at all Bring your sequins, bring your stage Bring your daddy's money, y'all We'll be standing when it's over At the Grande Ballroom brawl

Verse 2

Vipers played it pretty with their lasers and their lace Then we hit the opening chord and you could see it on their face Halfway through the second song the fuse box gave a pop Every light and every amp went dead, and the whole room stopped

Breakdown

Stomp it if you hear me (Hey!) Stomp it if you're mine (Hey!) We don't need the power (Hey!) We got Detroit in our spine (Hey!)

Build

Turn it on Turn it on Turn it on

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Chorus

It's a Grande Ballroom brawl Throw your glitter at the wall We don't need a light show We don't need a fog machine at all Bring your sequins, bring your stage Bring your daddy's money, y'all We'll be standing when it's over At the Grande Ballroom brawl

Outro

Goodnight, Vipers Drive safe

Eight Mile Telegraph

Two a.m. on the east side, and I got that tape again

Spoken Word Verse 1

Some kid in a record shop slipped a cassette across the till Said this is the girl from the basement, the one they cannot kill Midnight on the pirate band, a transmitter in a closet He hit play on our bootleg tape and the whole east side lost it Phones ringing at the station, every line lit up like Christmas Play it again, play it again, play the girl with the iron business

Hook

Eight Mile telegraph Sending out the sound From the Rouge to the river Every radio in town Turn it up and pass it on Let the static carry me On the Eight Mile telegraph The whole city's singing free

Spoken Word Verse 2

Cab drivers on Gratiot had it cranked with the windows rolled down Factory boys on the midnight shift were humming it all over town Grandmas in the kitchen with the dial turned up to ten Every time the DJ said it's over, somebody called and made him play it again They tried to shut his tower down, they tried to cut the line But you cannot unplug a city once it's learned to sing in time

Chant

Can you hear me, Detroit (We hear you) Can you hear me, Detroit (We hear you)

Hook

Eight Mile telegraph Sending out the sound From the Rouge to the river Every radio in town Turn it up and pass it on Let the static carry me On the Eight Mile telegraph The whole city's singing free

Bridge

I never heard my voice before Coming out of somebody else's car Standing at a bus stop in the rain Finding out how far is far

Build

Pass it on Pass it on Pass it on

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Hook

Eight Mile telegraph Sending out the sound From the Rouge to the river Every radio in town Turn it up and pass it on Let the static carry me On the Eight Mile telegraph The whole city's singing free

That was the Wilde Syndicate, and this is Detroit, still awake

Iron Lungs

Verse 1

Twenty thousand faces and the ceiling's made of smoke They came to see the girl who sings like the engines when they choke The promoter said they'll eat you, said this town don't want your kind I just tapped the dead microphone and I left it all behind

Pre-Chorus

Don't need the wire Don't need the stage I got a furnace in my chest and it's been burning since I came

Chorus

I got iron lungs I got thunder on my tongue I don't need a speaker when the fire's in the song I got iron lungs Hear the rafters come undone Every note I ever swallowed now is coming out as one

Verse 2

The front row threw their bottles and the back row laughed out loud I let the first line hit them and it rolled across the crowd By the second they were quiet, by the third they're on their feet Twenty thousand hearts were pounding to the rhythm of one beat

Pre-Chorus

Don't need the wire Don't need the stage I got a furnace in my chest and it's been burning since I came

Chorus

I got iron lungs I got thunder on my tongue I don't need a speaker when the fire's in the song I got iron lungs Hear the rafters come undone Every note I ever swallowed now is coming out as one

Bridge

Hush now Hold your breath Let the whole hall lean in close I've been saving one for you The one they swore I couldn't throw

Build

Climb with me Climb with me Higher than the smoke can go

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

I got iron lungs I got thunder on my tongue I don't need a speaker when the fire's in the song I got iron lungs Hear the rafters come undone Every note I ever swallowed now is coming out as one

Outro

(Iron lungs!) I hear you (Iron lungs!) Now it's yours

Rust Belt Valentine

Spoken

February on Woodward, and the van just quit

Verse 1

Eighteen inches on the hood and the radiator steaming Five musicians in a broken van and Dez was out there screaming Then a yellow light came spinning through the snow like a sunrise A tow-truck man named Cal with motor oil and kind eyes

Pre-Chorus

He said I'll haul you for free if you sing me something sweet I said honey, I don't do sweet, but I'll knock you off your feet

Chorus

He's my rust belt valentine With grease up to his elbows and a heart like a V8 Coney dogs at midnight And a chain-link kind of date He don't bring me roses He brings jumper cables, fine Every girl needs a rust belt valentine

Verse 2

He took me down to Lafayette at two o'clock in the morning Chili on the counter and the windows fogged with warning He kissed me by the jukebox while the band was fast asleep Said stay in Detroit, Roxie, I said honey, I don't keep

Pre-Chorus

I got a tour bus waiting and a road that won't wait But I'll take tonight, Cal, and I'll take it on a plate

Chorus

He's my rust belt valentine With grease up to his elbows and a heart like a V8 Coney dogs at midnight And a chain-link kind of date He don't bring me roses He brings jumper cables, fine Every girl needs a rust belt valentine

Bridge

Bus pulled out at sunrise He was standing in the snow Didn't wave and didn't cry Just honked his horn real slow I don't miss him, honey But I smile at every tow

Held Note

Caaaaaaaaaaaal

Final Chorus

He's my rust belt valentine With grease up to his elbows and a heart like a V8 Coney dogs at midnight And a chain-link kind of date He don't bring me roses He brings jumper cables, fine Every girl needs a rust belt valentine

Outro

Not a mile of regret

Quarters for Danny

Verse 1

You were seventeen and skinny with your collar turned up high You'd find a quarter in your pocket every time I'd start to cry Said go on, Roxie, play it, make that jukebox shake the wall Someday you'll sing louder than the plant whistle, louder than it all

Verse 2

Then a letter came in April with a number and your name You left us on a Tuesday and the street was never the same You wrote me from the jungle where the rain would never stop Said save a song for me, kid, for the day I'm coming up the block

Chorus

I've still got three quarters, Danny Taped inside your last goodbye I never spent a single one Lord knows I've tried Every jukebox in this country Every stage I ever played I've been singing louder than the whistle Just like you said

Verse 3

Two men came up our porch steps in the coldest kind of green Mama didn't scream, she just sat down where she'd been I ran down to the corner bar with your quarters in my hand But I couldn't make them fall, Danny, I couldn't make them land

Chorus

I've still got three quarters, Danny Taped inside your last goodbye I never spent a single one Lord knows I've tried Every jukebox in this country Every stage I ever played I've been singing louder than the whistle Just like you said

Bridge

I know a quarter's only metal I know a song can't bring you home But every night I sing it up to you So you won't hear it alone

Climax

Dannyyyyyyyy

Final Chorus

I've still got three quarters, Danny Taped inside your last goodbye I never spent a single one Lord knows I've tried Every jukebox in this country Every stage I ever played I've been singing louder than the whistle Just like you said

Outro

Three quarters, Danny I'm keeping them for you

Truck Stop Cathedral

Verse 1

Bus died on the interstate in the blizzard of seventy-eight Forty miles from anywhere and the snow piled up to the gate One neon sign was burning through the white like a dying star A diner full of truckers and an old upright by the bar

Pre-Chorus

Kwame found a bucket Dez found a plug Ilya cracked his knuckles and he dusted off the rug

Chorus

We built a truck stop cathedral On a highway made of ice Coffee in the holy water Neon in the candlelight No ticket and no curtain Just the cold and what we bring In a truck stop cathedral Every sinner learned to sing

Verse 2

Big men in flannel jackets sitting stone-faced at the bar Said little lady, we don't need no song from where you are So I climbed up on the counter while the storm was howling past And I sang until the frost began to crack across the glass

Pre-Chorus

Jimmy hit the windows Smoke hit the door By the second chorus they were stomping on the floor

Chorus

We built a truck stop cathedral On a highway made of ice Coffee in the holy water Neon in the candlelight No ticket and no curtain Just the cold and what we bring In a truck stop cathedral Every sinner learned to sing

Bridge

The lights flickered out The heater died Fifty strangers huddled close with nothing left but my voice inside Somebody whispered, give us one more Something we can carry through the storm

Build

Hold on Hold on Till the morning breaks the snow

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

We built a truck stop cathedral On a highway made of ice Coffee in the holy water Neon in the candlelight No ticket and no curtain Just the cold and what we bring In a truck stop cathedral Every sinner learned to sing

Outro

Sun came up And they were singing

Sunday Night Sinner

Verse 1

Rolled into Clarksdale with the tour bus running hot They said the only stage in town's a tent out in the lot A preacher at the flap said, girl, we only sing for grace I said, Reverend, hand that microphone, I'll sing it to your face

Chorus

I'm a Sunday night sinner (Sunday night!) With a Monday morning soul I raise the roof on Saturday And I pay it back in gold Lay your hands on the Hammond (Lay 'em down!) Let the thunder take control I'm a Sunday night sinner With a Monday morning soul

Verse 2

The choir in the folding chairs had arms crossed like a wall The deacons in the back row didn't want my kind at all But Jimmy laid the slide down and the canvas shook with rain And by the second chorus they were singing out my name

Chorus

I'm a Sunday night sinner (Sunday night!) With a Monday morning soul I raise the roof on Saturday And I pay it back in gold Lay your hands on the Hammond (Lay 'em down!) Let the thunder take control I'm a Sunday night sinner With a Monday morning soul

Bridge

Lightning hit the steeple And the power cut away Two hundred people in the dark And not a one would walk away

Build

Can I get a witness Can I get a witness Can I get a witness now

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

I'm a Sunday night sinner (Sunday night!) With a Monday morning soul I raise the roof on Saturday And I pay it back in gold Lay your hands on the Hammond (Lay 'em down!) Let the thunder take control I'm a Sunday night sinner With a Monday morning soul

Outro

Amen, Clarksdale Same time next Sunday

Smoke Signals

Verse 1

Two days before the tour bus and the van was packed to go Smoke's chair sat empty and his phone just rang on slow Dez said let him go, Rox, he's been slipping since the fall I said that man taught me to breathe, I'm gonna find him, that is all

Verse 2

I walked from Mack to Gratiot in the cold and in the rain Every corner, every alley, every doorway, every train Then I saw it in a window with a price tag on its bell His horn behind the pawn shop glass, the one he swore he'd never sell

Chorus

I'm sending smoke signals Through the rain across this town Every bar and every corner Till I bring you back around You don't get to disappear You don't get to fade away I'm sending smoke signals Till you're ready to play

Verse 3

I emptied out the tour fund on the counter, every dime The pawn man said that's crazy, I said, mister, that is mine Found him shaking on a stairwell with his collar to the cold Put the horn into his hands and I didn't let it go

Pre-Climax

Play tonight, Smoke Or never play again Play tonight, Smoke Show me you're still my friend

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

I'm sending smoke signals Through the rain across this town Every bar and every corner Till I bring you back around You don't get to disappear You don't get to fade away I'm sending smoke signals Till you're ready to play

Outro

He played

Ilya's Winter

Verse 1

He was the pride of Leningrad at nineteen years of age They dressed him up in black and white and sent him on the stage The Party clapped in the front row, the soldiers by the door And every note he played for them, he played for something more

Verse 2

Helsinki in December, the minders turned away He left his coat upon the chair and walked into the gray Two hundred miles of frozen road, a river made of glass He crossed it in the dead of night and let the old life pass

Chorus

Dance with me through Ilya's winter Every key a falling snow He traded all of Russia's palaces For a bar room down below He left behind a grand Steinway And a mother at the door Now he plays it for the Syndicate And he plays it for her more

Verse 3

Came to Detroit with a suitcase and a name that no one knew Playing Rachmaninoff for nickels and for nothing much to do I heard him from the sidewalk through a window in the frost I walked in and said, piano man, I think you're what we lost

Chorus

Dance with me through Ilya's winter Every key a falling snow He traded all of Russia's palaces For a bar room down below He left behind a grand Steinway And a mother at the door Now he plays it for the Syndicate And he plays it for her more

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

Dance with me through Ilya's winter Every key a falling snow He traded all of Russia's palaces For a bar room down below He left behind a grand Steinway And a mother at the door Now he plays it for the Syndicate And he plays it for her more

Outro

Spasibo, Ilya Play it slow

Last Quarter

Verse 1

Nineteen eighty, and they're tearing down the bar Uncle's sign is in the gutter and the windows lost their stars They put that jukebox on the auction block for anyone to buy I emptied out my pockets and I didn't ask them why

Verse 2

Sold to the lady in the leather for every dime she had Dragged it out onto the empty lot, the night was cold and sad Ran a cord across the rubble from the streetlight on the pole And I reached into my pocket for the quarter in my soul

Pre-Chorus

Danny, this one's yours I kept it all these years

Chorus

Drop the last quarter Let it fall into the slot Every song we ever sang Is ringing through this lot Jukebox dust and iron That's the blood inside my song Drop the last quarter We've been playing all along

Band Roll Call

Dez Kwame Jimmy Ilya Smoke

Verse 3

Every room that ever doubted, every hall that let us in Every truck stop, every tent, every snowstorm, every sin They can knock the building down and they can pave it over flat But you cannot bulldoze a song, and baby, that is that

Build

Play it again Play it again Play it again

Climax

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Final Chorus

Drop the last quarter Let it fall into the slot Every song we ever sang Is ringing through this lot Jukebox dust and iron That's the blood inside my song Drop the last quarter We've been playing all along

Outro

Dust and iron Always mine