Big Thunder Runs in My Blood

[Verse 1]
Old wood sign by the two-lane road
Tourist maps say “step back in time”
But my granddad swung a pick down there
Before the painted arrows
Before the gift-line
Rust-red dust on my Sunday shoes
Bus-load kids chasing fool’s pyrite
Guide says “imagine the darkness” and laughs
I’m already halfway back in that night
[Chorus]
Big Thunder runs in my blood
Hear it roll through the Black Hills mud
From the timbers to the town
That echo don’t fade
Every vein in this ground got a name they made
Big Thunder
Take me under again
[Verse 2]
Hand on the rock where his number’s carved
Faded chalk on the support beam grain
Stories live in the drip of the shaft
In the cough and the call and the coffee-stain
Heard they hit a pocket in ’32
Fed six little mouths on a single vein
Now it’s postcards
Helmets
Hard-candy bags
But I still taste iron in the summer rain (oh yeah)
[Chorus]
Big Thunder runs in my blood
Hear it roll through the Black Hills mud
From the timbers to the town
That echo don’t fade
Every vein in this ground got a name they made
Big Thunder
Take me under again
[Bridge]
Turn off the lamps
Let the dark lean in
You can feel every hammer
Where the quiet’s been
Keystone lights up
But the mountain stays plain
Holding all the secrets
And the first and last names
[Chorus]
Big Thunder runs in my blood
Hear it roll through the Black Hills mud
From the timbers to the town
That echo don’t fade
Every vein in this ground got a name they made
Big Thunder
Keep your thunder in my veins
Big Thunder
I’ll come walking back again

Roots rock band feel, male vocals; crunchy Telecaster riffs over a driving backbeat and warm bass. Verses stay low and story-driven; chorus lifts with big gang vocals and tambourine. Second verse adds harmonica fills, bridge drops to half-time with just kick, bass, and vocal before a final, anthemic chorus.