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