Ashes By The Gate

[Verse 1]
They came at dawn by the broken fence
Gunners in iron with no old sense
Burned through the corn and the supply shed door
Left two smoke trails and a scarred red floor

[Verse 2]
Word ran fast through the Commonwealth dust
To the white-house man with the blood-on-his-cuff
He saw that ruin and his jaw went hard
Said, "Load them wagons, boys, we're going far"

[Pre-Chorus]
When the courthouse rang, the whole town stood still
Boots hit the road with a hard-nosed will
He pointed east where the black smoke fell
Said, "Pay it back, and pay it well"

[Chorus]
A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
From the farms to the broken rail
We rode like thunder through the hail

A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
Tech bastards heard that river call
And watched their tower start to fall

[Verse 3]
At the edge of town where the machines once shone
We cut through steel with a steady bone
No crown, no glory, just a promise made
For every small house that they set ablaze

[Pre-Chorus]
Then the sky went red with the final shout
And the last smoke curled from their hole-in-ground
He raised one hand as the noise ran dry
Said, "That'll teach 'em to make us cry"

[Chorus]
A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
From the farms to the broken rail
We rode like thunder through the hail

A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
Tech bastards heard that river call
And watched their tower start to fall

[Bridge]
Now the children sleep with the doors swung shut
And the seed rows grow where the fire was cut
If you come for us, you'd better pray
That mercy finds you on a better day

[Final Chorus]
A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
From the farms to the broken rail
We rode like thunder through the hail

A lesson they'll never forget
A lesson they'll never forget
Tech bastards heard that river call
And watched their tower start to fall