[Verse 1]
The sun comes up on broken tar, where white lines used to be
We shuffle in from concrete tombs, a ghost society
The strong ones push right to the front, with hollow, hungry eyes
While I just try to stand up straight and pray my strength's a lie

[Chorus]
Oh, hear the diesel engine groan, a beast of twisted steel
It offers life with crushing hands, a nightmare, all too real
To be chosen is to break your back, for water and for bread
But to be left behind here on the asphalt is to be the living dead

[Verse 2]
The Foreman's gaze, a cold and calculating thing
He measures muscle, weighs the will, my fragile offering
I saw old Thomas passed today, he coughed right through the roll
They left him standing all alone, and payment took its toll

[Chorus]
Oh, hear the diesel engine groan, a beast of twisted steel
It offers life with crushing hands, a nightmare, all too real
To be chosen is to break your back, for water and for bread
But to be left behind here on the asphalt is to be the living dead

[Bridge]
This isn't life, it's just a slower way to fall
A daily choice of how you'd like to end it all
A broken back beneath the sun, or bones picked clean by crows
There are no good decisions when the world's come to a close

[Outro]
The truck pulls out... a cloud of dust...
Some of us are broken... some of us are lost...
...Just a car park... just a car park...
[Sound of wind blowing, fading slowly]