Name on the Beam

Sun came up on rebar
Name on the beam
Still beating under stone
Boom boom

Boot prints in the dust
Thermos coffee going cold
Crane shadow crossing over
Everything I hold

Everybody talking loud
Like loud's the same as bold
There's a cracked hardhat in my truck
My father's name inside

They said throw that old thing out
I said not while it still rides
New kid ran his mouth all shift
About who's tough and who's not

I just kept my level steady
While the summer sun stayed hot
I was quiet on the job site
So the loud ones called me weak

But some men save their thunder
For the moment they must speak
Every level bubble centered
Is a sentence I don't say

The plumb line does my talking
At the end of every day
Pressure on my shoulders
Dust inside my throat

I heard the wall talking
Before anybody spoke

Name on the beam
Boom boom
Still beating under stone
Under stone

Pour that pressure on me
All day long
Quiet work still holds the home

Still beating
Boom boom
Still beating
Under stone
Still holding on

Foreman blamed the layout
Whole crew turned to stare
I almost swallowed shame
Like I was never even there

Then I checked the string line
Saw the mark was wrong
Saved the pour before it failed
And the room went quiet long

Twenty tons of ready mix
Were riding on that call
One quiet man who measured twice
Just held the whole day tall

Nobody said sorry
Nobody clapped for me
But silence from the doubters
Is its own trophy

They poured a plaque that autumn
My name spelled wrong in gray
I laughed and let it dry
Some things you let stay

Name on the beam
Boom boom
Still beating under stone
Under stone

Pour that pressure on me
All day long
Quiet work still holds the home

Sitting on the concrete bags
Machines roaring overhead
I heard my own heart louder
Than every word they said

Not the loudest in the room
Not the first to throw a flame
But when the wall needs holding
It remembers steady names

Cause I know which wall I saved
I know which pour was mine
The building doesn't need my name
To stand the test of time

Steady hands
Steady hands
Straight lines

The quiet ones still win the wall
Still win
One beat at a time

Name on the beam
Boom boom
Still beating under stone
Under stone

Pour that pressure on me
All day long
Quiet work still holds the home
Not gone

Still beating
Boom boom
Still beating
Boom boom
Under stone
Still holding on

Hardhat on the dashboard
Sunset on the road
Same crack down the middle
Same name written bold

Told him through the windshield
Pop the quiet work still holds
Name on the beam
Still beating under stone