Shieldwall Lullaby

Verse

Grandfather stood the line in seventy-four

Tin lunchbox rattling, chalk dust on the floor

Baton met bone but the row never broke

They locked their arms like shields under smoke

Coal in his knuckles, ash on his sleeve

Sang me the chant that he swore not to leave

Said hold your ground when the whistle turns cruel

The wall don't bend for a company's rule

Pre-Chorus

What do you carry when the gate comes down

What do you sing when the sirens surround

I hum his hymn low, I keep it alive

So the wall keeps standing after we survive

Chorus

Shieldwall lullaby, hush now, hold the line

Metal for a blanket, steady for the sign

We rock the young ones sleeping to the sound of feet

The wall don't break, the wall repeats

Verse

Now I clock the graveyard shift at the depot gate

Forklift hum a hymn where the old chant used to wait

Same arms, different armor, steel plate under my boots

Foreman cuts the hours, we still show up in twos

Scar under my eyebrow from a chain that snapped back

Badge number stitched where his name used to stack

I stand the same formation my grandfather drew

Just concrete for a valley, fluorescent for the blue

Pre-Chorus

What do you carry when the gate comes down

What do you sing when the sirens surround

I pass it to my daughter, I keep it alive

So the wall keeps standing after we survive

Chorus

Shieldwall lullaby, hush now, hold the line

Metal for a blanket, steady for the sign

We rock the young ones sleeping to the sound of feet

The wall don't break, the wall repeats

Bridge

Truth is the shield was never bronze or steel

It was shoulders pressed together, how we kneel

No, how we stand, hand gripping the hand beside

The lullaby ain't quiet, it's the reason we don't hide

Chorus

Shieldwall lullaby, hush now, hold the line

Metal for a blanket, steady for the sign

We rock the young ones sleeping to the sound of feet

The wall don't break, the wall repeats