Dreaming Out Of Iron

[Intro]
[Violin crying
Slow
Bending into the first chord]
[Verse 1]
I wake up in the metal
Bolts where my bones should be
Teeth taste like old pennies
Rust in the place of sleep
The mirror shows a stranger
Hard frame
Haunted eyes
I button up this borrowed skin
And pretend it fits me right
[Chorus]
But I keep dreaming out of iron
Slipping through these aching seams
Just one day without the grinding
Just one breath that doesn’t scream
If there’s a morning made of mercy
Let it find me in this frame
Let me walk an hour in daylight
And forget I ever knew this pain
[Verse 2]
The doctor talks like weather
“Storms
” “fronts
” “it’s just the way”
He measures out my minutes
In little plastic gray
I joke about the future
He laughs
But looks away
I’m learning how to love a life
That takes more than it pays
[Chorus]
Still I keep dreaming out of iron
Slipping through these aching seams
Just one day without the grinding
Just one breath that doesn’t scream
If there’s a morning made of mercy
Let it find me in this frame
Let me walk an hour in daylight
And forget I ever knew this pain
[Bridge]
Will I ever rise
Not counting every stair
Not bargaining with God
For a night of lesser cares
If there’s a gate that opens
On fields that feel like rain
I’ll trade this whole hard body
For a moment free from pain
[Chorus]
So I keep dreaming out of iron
Slipping through these aching seams
Just one day without the grinding
Just one breath that doesn’t scream
If there’s a morning made of mercy
Let it call me by my name
Let me lay this old shell down now
And step out
Unafraid of pain
[Outro]
[Violin holds a thin
Shaking note
Fading into silence]

rock, Dusty country-rock ballad with trembling male vocals, weeping solo violin intro. Fingerpicked electric guitar and brushed kit move slow and heavy; warm bass glues everything. Verses stay sparse and close-mic’d, Cohen-esque delivery on the edge of a whisper. Chorus swells with organ pads and low two-part harmonies, violin answering the vocal like a second voice. Final pass strips back to voice, violin, and soft guitar, ending on a fragile held note., vocal, country rock, violin, sad, slow