They came in buses when the moon was low

Paperwork clean, destination unknown

Steel gates smile with a clang and a lock

Welcome to the place where the clock never stops

No questions, no trial, no name on the list

Just a number, a jump suit, a wrist full of twist

They hand you the sledge, they point to the pile

Say “welcome to purpose” with a sergeant’s dry smile

Put them in the box

Make them break rocks

We always need gravel

We always need gravel

Put them in the box

Crush until they drop

We always need gravel

Yeah we always need gravel

Dust in the lungs like a permanent fog

Hearts keep the tempo of the quarry’s dull thud

One more layer peeled, one more ton moved

Proof of the system that can never be proved

The roads get wider, the cities stay bright

Freeways keep flowing through somebody’s night

They pour the foundation, they level the grade

While the ones who supplied it just quietly fade

Put them in the box

Make them break rocks

We always need gravel

We always need gravel

Put them in the box

Till the body just stops

We always need gravel

God we always need gravel

(slower, almost spoken)

Every driveway you drive

Every patio stone

Every aggregate mile

Carries somebody’s bone

Every smooth parking lot

Every highway that rolls

Is poured on a promise

That nobody told

Put them in the box

Make them break rocks

We always need gravel

(we always need gravel)

Put them in the box

Till the last heartbeat knocks

We always need gravel

We forever need gravel

Gravel… gravel…

We always need gravel…

(always need gravel…)