Iron in the Blood

"Iron in the Blood," from gravel in my throat.

Doom-doom, doom-doom

Tck-clink, tck-clink

(it’s in the marrow now)

Mmm-hmmm...

Rust on the gate

Waking up early with a heavy-weight plate

I don’t breathe the dust, I swallow the ore

Found a new hunger I didn’t feel before

Knuckle-crack rhythm like a breaking branch

Cold wind howling through the ghost of the ranch

I don’t whisper now, I speak in the grit

Light a match-stick just to watch the dark spit (hiss)

Boot on the shovel, push it deep in the clay

Burying the man that I was yesterday.

Iron in my blood, let it pump, let it freeze

I’m the winter-time shiver in the willow trees

Hmm-hmmm, hmm-hmmm, I hum like a wire

Electric and low, just a spark in the mire

Clang-bang, clang-bang, that’s the sound of the cage

Turning the lock on a blood-stained page

Iron in my blood, let it ache, let it hold

If the devil still walking, tell him do what he’s told (hah)

Crow on the wire looking down at my sin

Where the gravel ends is where the iron begins

I don’t look for shade, I don’t look for the well

I’m digging out a basement in the middle of hell

Psh-tkt, psh-tkt, breath like a saw

Living outside of the mercy and law

Owl in the rafters, eyes like gold

Watching my story as it starts to unfold

My shadow’s got teeth, my shadow’s got claws

I stopped asking why and I stopped asking 'cause (shh)

Iron in my blood, let it pump, let it freeze

I’m the winter-time shiver in the willow trees

Hmm-hmmm, hmm-hmmm, I hum like a wire

Electric and low, just a spark in the mire

Clang-bang, clang-bang, that’s the sound of the cage

Turning the lock on a blood-stained page

Iron in my blood, let it ache, let it hold

If the devil still walking, tell him do what he’s told

Feet in the river, but the water won’t flow

Ice in the spirit where the weeds used to grow

Mmm-hmmm, mmm-hmmm, heavy in my chest

Ain't no such thing as a soul at rest (nah)

I’m the hammer now.

I’m the anvil too.

I’m the cold hard fact coming straight for you.

Empty the bottle, let the glass hit the stone

I’m building a kingdom out of nothing but bone

Skin like leather, heart like a fluke

Reading my life like a black-letter book

Tsk-tsk, doom... tsk-tsk, doom...

Rain on the tin like a beat in the room

Every little scar is a bolt and a screw

Telling me exactly what I gotta do.

Iron in my blood, let it pump, let it freeze

I’m the winter-time shiver in the willow trees

Hmm-hmmm, hmm-hmmm, I hum like a wire

Electric and low, just a spark in the mire

Clang-bang, clang-bang, that’s the sound of the cage

Turning the lock on a blood-stained page

Iron in my blood, let it ache, let it hold

If the devil still walking, t