[Decade: 1995] [Genre: Bluegrass, Subgenre: Indie Rock] [Country: USA] [Vocalist info: Deep Gritty Male Vocals] [Music descriptors: driving mandolin pulses, stomping drum beats, thunder bass, syncopated banjo accents] [Tempo: 130 BPM] [Produced by Badgids, Rob Zombie, White Zombie] [Studios: The Sound Kitchen & Ocean Way] [INSTRUMENTAL PRELUDE] [Em] [G] [D] [A] [*Single heavy kick drum stomp every beat*] [*Mandolin enters with a dark, rapid tremolo picking*] [*Distorted banjo plucks a dissonant riff*] [Male Vocals: Deep and Gritty] [INTRO] [Em] [G] (Heavy...) [D] [A] (So heavy...) [Em] [G] [D] [A] *Mandolin slides down the neck with a metallic screech* [VERSE 1] [Em] [G] She calls me the mountain, I’m on the the peak [D] [A] But the granite is crumbling and the bedrock is weak [Em] [G] I’d like to believe that this gravity’s a lie [D] [A] But the ground is just hungry for a man like me [Em] [G] Every word that she whispers is a feather in the wind [D] [A] But it lands like a boulder on the places I’ve been [Em] [G] The silt in the river is filling up my shoes [D] [A] And I’m losing my rhythm [PRE-CHORUS] [C] [G] (Piano) I’m sinking... [D] [Em] (Mezzo Forte) I’m sinking... [C] [D] (Forte) I’M SINKING DOWN! [CHORUS] [Em] [C] I have grown iron-bound [G] [D] To the red clay [Em] [C] I have grown iron-bound [G] [D] In the worst way [Em] [C] Too much of the earth, not enough of the soul [G] [D] [Em] I’m a jagged-edged man in a velvet-lined hole [C] [D] I’m iron-bound [VERSE 2] [Em] [G] I try to remember the way that I felt [D] [A] Before all the candles and the memories melt [Em] [G] But my shadow is wider than the valley we’re in [D] [A] And I can’t find the place where her mercies begin [Em] [G] She’s looking for light in a coal-blackened mine [D] [A] While I’m counting the cracks in my own crooked spine [Em] [G] The bridges are rusted, the timber is old and splintering [D] [A] [Em] And I’m just a spark in a kerosene-high [CHORUS] [Em] [C] I have grown iron-bound [G] [D] To the red clay [Em] [C] I have grown iron-bound [G] [D] In the worst way [Em] [C] Too much of the earth, not enough of the soul [G] [D] [Em] I’m a jagged-edged man in a velvet-lined hole [C] [D] I’m iron-bound [BRIDGE] [Am] [Em] There’s a fever in the hollow, a ghost in these trees [Am] [B7] One hand on the Bible, the other on my knees [Am] [Em] The weight of the silence is louder than the sound [C] [D] Of a thousand dead men screaming from the ground! [SOLO] [Em] [G] [D] [A] (x2) [*Fast, aggressive flat-picking mandolin solo with heavy distortion*] [*Banjo engages in rapid-fire thrash-style rolls*] [BREAKDOWN] [*Music drops to only a pulsing bass and a steady stomp*] [Em] Too hard or too soft, what I’ve kept or I’ve lost [G] Too high or too low, where the weeds or the roses grow [D] Too much or too little, I’m breaking in the middle [A] Iron-bound... [Em] Too dark or too bright, in the day or the night [G] Too rich or too poor, she’s closing the door [D] The bitter-sweet taste is a permanent waste [A] NO! YEAH! NO-O-O-O! [FINAL CHORUS] [Em] [C] (Fortissimo) I HAVE GROWN IRON-BOUND! [G] [D] TO THE RED CLAY! [Em] [C] I HAVE GROWN IRON-BOUND! [G] [D] IN THE WORST WAY! [Em] [C] Too much of the earth, not enough of the sky [G] [D] [Em] I’m a mountain of lead with a tear in my eye [C] [D] I’m iron-bound... [OUTRO] [Em] [G] Your life is iron-bound [D] [A] (So heavy...) [Em] [G] The dirt is iron-bound [D] [A] (Sinking down...) [Em] [G] (Pianissimo) Iron... [D] [A] Bound... [FADE OUT] [*Mandolin pulses slow down until they stop*] [*Final low E note on the thunder bass rings out*] [END]
