Anthracite Requiem

[Intro — sparse, whispered, electric cello only] Say Pittsburgh. Say Carnegie. Say steel. Nobody says Scranton. Nobody ever says Scranton. [Verse 1] First iron rails this country ever rode Came out of Lackawanna's ground Eighteen forty-three, we laid the nation's spine Before Pittsburgh made a sound We pulled the anthracite from underground Hard coal, clean coal, the real fuel Black diamonds bleeding out the dark While Carnegie was still in school [Pre-Chorus — fiddle ostinato rises] Foundries so powerful You couldn't tear them down Still standing today Silent reminders [Drop — everything falls except sub-bass] Silent temples. [Chorus — blast beat, full collapse] WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM WE LAID THE RAILS YOU RODE TO GLORY WE BURNED THE COAL THAT LIT YOUR STORY WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM [Verse 2 — call and response] [Call] The Welsh came down the mountain singing [Response] The Irish came behind [Call] They worked the seams at Avondale [Response] And left their lungs inside Electric city, eighty-six First streetcar in the nation's blood Third largest, then the slow erasure While Pittsburgh got the flood Of praise, of myth, of Carnegie's name Gilded on a library wall We dug the coal that built that library We just didn't get the call [Pre-Chorus] Foundries so powerful You couldn't tear them down Still standing today Silent reminders [Drop] Silent temples. [Chorus] WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM WE LAID THE RAILS YOU RODE TO GLORY WE BURNED THE COAL THAT LIT YOUR STORY WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM [Breakdown — half-tempo, spoken over metallic percussion] They say Pittsburgh. They say steel. They say Carnegie. They don't say Lackawanna. They don't say anthracite. They don't say the names of the men who didn't come back up. The Molly Maguires knew. The seams knew. The foundry walls still know. They're still standing. You couldn't tear them down if you tried. You didn't try. You just stopped looking. [Bridge — blast beat returning] We are the rails beneath your feet We are the coal inside your heat We are the city you forgot to name We are the foundry We are the— [Final Chorus] WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM WE LAID THE RAILS YOU RODE TO GLORY WE BURNED THE COAL THAT LIT YOUR STORY WE FORGED THIS NATION IN THEM YOU FORGED LIES AROUND THEM [Outro — start decay instrumentation, reverb tail vocals] Still standing. Still standing. Still standing. (whispered) Say our name.