[Intro: A low, warm harmonium drone begins, holding a sustained G-minor chord; a bowed double bass enters, bowing a slow, deep root note; a crystal singing bowl rings once, setting a long, crystalline tail in the stereo field] [Verse 1: The drone continues to ripple; vocals are pristine, clear, and delivered with slow, ritualistic pacing] Silica skin Fossilized marrow The circle is narrow The alignment begins (Align the stone) (Align the bone) [Refrain: The electric guitar swells in with long, reverse-delay tones; the vocal is soaring and sacred] The cedar turned to flint ten thousand years ago But it still remembers how to make the sirens slow (Make the sirens slow) [Verse 2: The pump organ wheezes softly in the mix, adding a human breath to the mechanical drone] Pistons freeze Ignition fails The spark-plug pales In the prehistoric breeze (Quiet the wire) (Drown the fire) [Instrumental Break 1: The bowed bass swells, colliding with the electric guitar drone to create a beautiful, physical vibration in the low end; the crystal singing bowl rings out again, cutting cleanly through the thick wash of sound] [Verse 3: The drone shifts slightly as the dulcimer plucks three metallic, shimmering notes that hang in the reverb] Castles of wood Turned into slate At the highway gate Where the forest once stood (Heavy the wind) (The sky is thinned) [Chorus: All instruments reach a peak of overlapping resonance; the lead vocal climbs to a breathtaking, clear high note while layered backing vocals chant in a wordless, choral canopy] The cedar turned to flint ten thousand years ago But it still remembers how to make the sirens slow (Make the sirens slow) Yeah, the cedar turned to flint ten thousand years ago But it still remembers how to make the sirens slow (Make the sirens slow) [Outro: The instruments begin to fade out one by one, leaving only the low, vibrating rattle of the bowed double bass, which slowly dissolves into the natural hiss of a mountain wind]
