Fire in the Vein

[Verse 1]
Pick in my hand
Blood on the handle
Nails packed with earth
Eyes burned to gravel
Counting each flake
Like it’s all I am
Sleep in the shaft
Dream in the pan
[Chorus]
Got that fire in the vein
Gold in my eyes
Every heartbeat
Is a shovel in the night
If I lose my name
Just to feed this hole
Will I die down here
For a handful of gold
[Verse 2]
Lantern runs low
I don’t even notice
Hear my back crack
Ignore every warning
Teeth full of grit
Jaw locked like stone
Talk to the walls
More than I phone home
[Chorus]
Got that fire in the vein
Gold in my eyes
Every heartbeat
Is a shovel in the night
If I lose my name
Just to feed this hole
Will I die down here
For a handful of gold
[Bridge]
[Guitars thin out
Echo grows]
Smoke in the tunnel
But the air is still
Flame turns red
Then it bends to my will
Out of the glow
Steps a man made of cinders
Empty sockets
Burning like winters
He said
“I swung that pick
Till my bones turned black
Stacked my coins
’Til they stacked on my back
Look at these chains
Every link is a lie
Every ounce that I hoarded
Was a year I died”
He showed me a body
Curled in this pit
Rings on its fingers
Rot on its lips
“I dug my grave
With the same old stroke
You’re breathing my dust
You’re my last bad joke”
[Chorus]
Got that fire in the vein
Gold in my eyes
Every heartbeat
Is a shovel in the night
But if I keep my name
And I leave this hole
Can I trade this curse
For a livable soul
[Verse 3]
Dropped my tools
Felt my fingers shake
Ash on my boots
From his fading shape
Walked to the mouth
Of that broken hill
Sun cut my face
Like a shining will
[Chorus]
Still that fire in the vein
But it’s losing hold
I’ve got dirt on my hands
Not a pocket of gold
I will keep my name
I will seal this hole
Let the greed stay buried
While I claw back my soul

Dark Western rock ballad with male vocals; dusty tremolo guitars and low, swinging drums in the verses, then a soaring, harmony-laced chorus with organ swells and gritty overdriven rhythm guitar. Start close and hushed, then build intensity as the ghost appears with echo-drenched vocals and a rising string pad, dropping back to an intimate, nearly unplugged final chorus.