Lock the Brake in Rain

[Intro] [Low spoken grit] Gravel shift. last run before dawn. [Verse 1] The belt jumped hard with a crack like a gate, The loaded hopper shook against its chain. I slapped the red stop with my gloved right hand, While stones came pouring through the steel floor pan. The foreman leaned in, his watch face bright: “Get that line moving. we’re losing the night.” [Chorus] You can’t feed a broken belt, You can’t outrun what steel has felt. I cut the motor, let the gravel fall— No dawn is worth a crushed hand at all. [Verse 2] Dust packed the seams of my collar and cuffs, The rollers ground once, then locked up rough. I wedged the gate and called out the jam, He shouted, “restart it”—i showed him my hand. The hopper kept settling, the chain pulled tight; I held to the cutoff and stayed in the light. [Chorus] You can’t feed a broken belt, You can’t outrun what steel has felt. I cut the motor, let the gravel fall— No dawn is worth a crushed hand at all. [Guitar solo] [Short bent lead phrases, then a compact melodic solo] [Chorus] You can’t feed a broken belt, You can’t outrun what steel has felt. I cut the motor, let the gravel fall— No dawn is worth a crushed hand at all. [Outro] The belt lies split. the hopper’s still. I keep my hand on the cutoff switch.