Rusted Guardrail

[Verse 1]
You're twelve years old on the Lackawanna trestle again
The ties are rotted through, you're counting slowly up to ten
Your hands are black with creosote and summer grit
Testing the welds to see what kind of weight they'll admit

[Chorus]
You're still standing on that rusted guardrail
Waiting for the foundation to fail
But the hope is a hairline fracture you can't see
Just holding on, barely

[Verse 2]
Remember the taste of iron from the well behind the church?
The smell of hot tar bubbling on the August asphalt scorch
You learned to spackle over every single crack in the wall
Pretended you couldn't hear the floor joists about to fall

[Interlude]
*(A man's voice, distant, echoing like a memory)*
"It's good steel, kid. Union-made. It'll hold."

[Chorus]
You're still standing on that rusted guardrail
Waiting for the foundation to fail
But the hope is a hairline fracture you can't see
Just holding on, barely

[Bridge]
They told you your whole life was a controlled demolition
A bad blueprint, a flawed edition
But you're still here, past the court date and the razor wire fence
And some part of that cheap steel still makes a little sense

[Outro]
Still holding on
Barely