ONE BUCKET AT A TIME

Intro (Spoken over a building riff) Swing. Bite. Lift. Dump. Again. Verse 1 (Stompy, half-time groove) Dawn hits the pit like a welding arc, Blue-white glare in the diesel dark, Highline humming, cables tight, House turns slow like a hungry rite. Teeth kiss rock with a metal scream, Bank comes down like a busted seam, And the mountain learns what we already know— Nothing stays tall where the shovel goes. Pre-Chorus (Build) Hear that motor—deep and mean, A thunder god in a steel machine… Chorus (Big open chords, double-kick, gang vocals) SWING! Let it eat—let it take that stone! BITE! Strip the ribs off the backbone! LIFT! Raise hell with the weight we claim! DUMP! Like judgment in a gravel rain! SWING! All day ‘til the daylight’s gone— ONE BUCKET AT A TIME, WE’RE MOVIN’ A MOUNTAIN! HEY! (HEY!) HO! (HO!) ONE BUCKET AT A TIME! Verse 2 Operator’s throne in a glass-box shrine, Hands on levers like a steady line, Eyes on the cut, on the toe, on grade, Every pass is a promise made. Haul trucks wait like iron jaws, Shovel feeds ‘em without a pause, And each load rolls out in a slow parade To the crusher’s throat where the gold gets paid. Pre-Chorus No choir here but the gear and chain— No hymn but the grind and the strain… Chorus SWING! Let it eat—let it take that stone! BITE! Strip the ribs off the backbone! LIFT! Raise hell with the weight we claim! DUMP! Like judgment in a gravel rain! SWING! All day ‘til the daylight’s gone— ONE BUCKET AT A TIME, WE’RE MOVIN’ A MOUNTAIN! HEY! (HEY!) HO! (HO!) ONE BUCKET AT A TIME! Bridge (Drop quiet/clean, almost reverent — then build and detonate) (Clean guitar, lighter vocal) There’s a moment at full extension— When the bucket hangs… and the world goes still… Just steel and sky and a load of gravity, And the pit holds its breath against your will. (whisper/soft) You don’t fight the mountain. You just… outlast it. (Build: toms, then distortion creeps in) Then the teeth come back, and the silence breaks— The bank gives up what the shovel takes. Breakdown / Chant (Gang vocals, percussive) EAT! (EAT!) THE ROCK! (THE ROCK!) CHEW! (CHEW!) THE RIDGE! (THE RIDGE!) SHEAR! (SHEAR!) THE WALL! (THE WALL!) TILL! (TILL!) IT’S GONE! (IT’S GONE!) WHO MOVES EARTH? — WE MOVE EARTH! WHO FEEDS STEEL? — WE FEED STEEL! Final Chorus (Bigger, nastier, last word held) SWING! Let it eat—let it take that stone! BITE! Strip the ribs off the backbone! LIFT! Raise hell with the weight we claim! DUMP! Like judgment in a gravel rain! SWING! All day ‘til the daylight’s gone— ONE BUCKET AT A TIME, WE’RE MOVIN’ A MOUNTAIN! HEY! (HEY!) HO! (HO!) ONE BUCKET AT A— ONE BUCKET AT A— ONE BUCKET AT A TIME!