"Machine's Last Stand"

“Machine’s Last Stand”
(The Ballad of Seldon)


Ain’t no man can give you your freedom.
No state, no county, no king.
When you’re up ‘gainst the wall
There’s no help at all for all the trouble you’re in.
When the Blue Coats stand between you and the grave,
Remember the true what we seen.
Put faith in your neighbour and kin,
And remember the fall of Machine.


Now you’ve heard tell of a town called Machine.
Phoenix tech kept the lights burnin’
A ‘Lectric City like you never seen,
Merikan coal kept the wheels turnin’


Ran wire to Columbus and rail to Delphi.
The Union’s frontier kept growin.’
The future was set. The past? Well lessee,
The good Lord said nothin’ ‘bout knowin’


“More than our fathers did and had.”
That’s what the gub’ment say
If the Phoenix deal was good or bad
That talk was for another day.


Say came quick; Phoenix wanted a payment,
And they finally came to collect.
Was more than the Union cared to remit,
So they told Three Flames to get necked.


Phoenix marched out of Memphis.
And the flames grew higher and higher.
Panic from Ashville to Tempus,
Machine would be cleansed in fire.


The Union Army pull up camp,
No Blues would be caught in the flame.
‘Lectric City needed a champ
And Seldon was his name.


He rallied militia, made stand on the wall,
Blade and bow in his grasp,
Bade the men stand, alone faced ‘em all,
Dared fire to his last gasp.

In a sudden charge, the Machiners broke out,
Every man woman and child.
Seldon’s mad charge made a rout,
And left the Phoenix beguiled.


“Get everyone out,” the wand’rer called.
And everyone followed his word.
And when Seldon’s escape was stalled.
“Save yourselves!” was the last thing what they heard.


No one know where he from; no one know why he came.
He was a stranger on the run.
But Seldon’s the name the people proclaim:
“Georgia’s number one son!”


Heroes like that are but seldom.
One in a million they say.
But when we needed Seldon
He was our hero that day.


Ain’t no man can give you your freedom.
No state, no county, no king.
When you’re up ‘gainst the wall
There’s no help at all for all the trouble you’re in.
When the Blue Coats stand between you and the grave,
Remember the true what we seen.
Put faith in your neighbour and kin,
And remember the fall of Machine.