Iron in the Pine

(Intro: Heavy, driving acoustic guitar riff with a chugging rhythm, layered four-part vocal chants, a deep bass kick, and a snappy handclap on the backbeat) (Vocal chants - layered LBT style: "Whoa-oh-oh, yeah, whoa-oh-oh") [Verse 1] (Driving acoustic guitar, deep kick drum, handclaps, low-end bass groove) Smoke rising up through the cold mountain air Coal-dusted porch and a splintered oak chair Learned real early how the winter could bite When the cupboard was bare under kerosene light Yeah, the wind kept a-beating on the kitchen door (Harmony drops in) But it only made us love this dirt a little bit more! [Verse 2] (Groove locks in tighter, mandolin rolls enter, four-part harmony swells on key phrases) Papa worked the seam till his lungs turned gray Mama prayed hard just to make it through May They said a mountain girl oughta stay real sweet Keep her head held down, put her shoes on her feet (All vocals snap in) Well, I was born in the wild, raised up in a rage And a soul like mine wasn't built for a cage! [Chorus] (Full anthem explosion — driving four-part harmony, booming bass, cranked-up acoustic strumming, stomps and claps) There’s iron in the pine, steel in the stone! (Lead with heavy vocal stacks) I carried every bit of this weight on my own! They tried to break me down, but I bound my tears Turned all of that hurt into thirty good years! I ain't bowing down, no, I ain't looking back! I’m a mountain-born woman on a runaway track! (Vocal hook: "Yeah, yeah, runaway track!") [Post-Chorus] (Heavy rhythmic groove, electric guitar hook layered with banjo and soaring vocal chants) (Whoa-oh-oh-oh, mountain-born, mountain-bred!) [Verse 3] (Stripped back to a heavy stomp-clap beat, acoustic guitar, and dark bass, lead voice gritty with harmonized accents) Packed a hand-me-down guitar in a beat-up car Sang for my supper in a hundred rough bars Four-part accents) (A hundred rough bars!) Learned every lesson through the sharp iron points Every scar on my heart is a badge I won Living free as the hills under God’s open sun! [Chorus] (Full anthem explosion — maximum four-part harmony power) There’s iron in the pine, steel in the stone! I carried every bit of this weight on my own! They tried to break me down, but I bound my tears Turned all of that hurt into thirty good years! I ain't bowing down, no, I ain't looking back. I’m a mountain-born woman on a runaway track! [Bridge] (Music drops out to just a thumping kick drum, handclaps, and a four-part vocal stack build-up) (Low harmony) They thought I’d fold when the dark settled in... (Mid harmony joins) Thought a girl from the ridge couldn't fight through the wind... (High harmony swells)But pain makes you strong, and the hard times real! (All voices hit peak)YOU CAN'T BEND A HEART MADE OF MOUNTAIN STEEL! [Guitar & Mandolin Breakdown] (Fiery, rhythm-heavy acoustic guitar and mandolin riff trading off over a booming stomp-clap beat) [Chorus] (Explosive final chorus — all vocalists belt out full volume, high-tenor harmonies flying over the top) There’s iron in the pine, steel in the stone! I carried every bit of this weight on my own! They tried to break me down, but I bound my tears Turned all of that hurt into thirty good years! I ain't bowing down, no, I ain't looking back! I’m a mountain-born woman on a runaway track! [Outro] (Rhythm stays heavy, fading into raw acapella vocals with stomps and claps) (All voices harmonizing) Iron in the pine! (Stomp, stomp, clap) Steel in the stone! (Stomp, stomp, clap) I'm standing right here on my own! (Lead vocal ad-lib)* *(Yeah, standing on my own!) (Final collective vocal burst on the last hit) MOUNTAIN BORN! (Final acoustic strum and deep bass kick) [END], [END], [END]...