Everyday I've woken up long before the sun

Never cared for politics, I've never voted once

Worked in clay and molded plates your family's eaten from

And I've always needed backbone in everything I've done.



Never been a clever man, I've never had my say

All I ask is honesty for all the tax I've paid

Sown the seed out in the fields and grew the wheat and corn

And I've always needed backbone in everything I've done.



I've always needed backbone

And got along somehow

But the pressures of this modern world

Test my patience now

We're helpless and our hands are tied

They've melted down our ploughs

And it seems to me that no one needs

Our backbone now.



Raised my kids and kept my wife the right and proper way

Families don't pull together, they pull away

Bound the books that you have read and handed your sons

And I've always needed backbone in everything I've done.



I've always needed backbone

And got along somehow

But the pressures of this modern world

Test my patience now

We're helpless and our hands are tied

They've melted down our ploughs

And it seems to me that no one needs

Our backbone now.



I was taught that craftsmen

Were the backbone of the land

But heritage has gone before

And no one gives a damn

Computers and technology

Are built to teach us how

And the giant hands of progress boys

Have crushed our backbone now