Intro
Copper hum, sodium glow
Clock don't stop, I already know
Verse
Punch the card at eleven, gate slides shut behind
Rows of steel and solder, breathing tin and lime
Wire between my fingers, current in my chest
Building someone's fortune, wearing someone else's vest
Boss counts up the units, I count up the years
Wages come in nickels, debt comes in arrears
Grandfather worked this floor before the roof caved in
Same machine, same hour, different rusted skin
Pre-Chorus
How many turns till the gears wear thin
How many hours till the light gets in
Chorus
Rust circuit midnight, running on the wire
Same voltage, same hour, same debt to retire
Rust circuit midnight, hands know the grind
Clocking out of body, clocking into mind
Verse
Sixteen I drew a blueprint, folded in my coat
Wanted to wire houses, not run this ghost by ghost
Now the schematic's yellow, edges soft as ash
Traded my design for a check that clears too fast
Foreman calls me steady, says I never miss a shift
Steady like a fault line, steady like the drift
Watch the sparks fall upward off the grinder's wheel
Wonder if a current ever learns to feel
Pre-Chorus
How many turns till the gears wear thin
How many hours till the light gets in
Chorus
Rust circuit midnight, running on the wire
Same voltage, same hour, same debt to retire
Rust circuit midnight, hands know the grind
Clocking out of body, clocking into mind
Bridge
Window's black at midnight, all I see is steel
Face behind the glass forgot the way it used to feel
Nobody's punching me out, no bell, no door
This the only circuit that I'm building anymore
Chorus
Rust circuit midnight, running on the wire
Same voltage, same hour, same debt to retire
Rust circuit midnight, hands know the grind
Clocking out of body, clocking into mind
Outro
Gears don't dream, gears just spin
Rust circuit midnight, running on again
