Intro [low frame drum, distant thunder, wind through trees] [bowed lyre / tagelharpa drone] [whispered vocal, dry and close] Ash in my lungs, iron breath Old gods listening The night remembers my name Verse I [finger-picked acoustic, low drum pulse] Mind in knots, spirit thinning Hours rot beneath my skin Every breath a borrowed moment Every dawn a broken hymn Time gnaws holes in bone and timber Shadows crawl across the stone Meaning dies in sacred silence Still I walk this path alone Pre-Chorus [chants fade in, subtle harmonies] I bind my fear with twisted twine Carry grief like holy flame If I fall beneath the weight The earth will know my name Chorus [full folk percussion, stomps, drones widen] Every chain is pulling downward Rooted deep in ancient ground I am sinking, I am howling But I will not be unwound Through the dirt, through blood and weather I feel the drum beneath my chest There are older fires burning I am more than this unrest Verse II [hurdy-gurdy / bowed strings enter] Every scar a binding sigil Every tear a vow I kept I’ve walked barefoot through the embers Just to prove I haven’t left Hope is thin as winter daylight Still it flickers in my ribs I am weary, I am faithful To the breath the forest gives Pre-Chorus II [drums intensify, voices stack] I bend like branches in the storm I crack but do not fall apart The night may claim my hours But it won’t devour my heart Chorus (Repeat) Every chain is pulling downward Rooted deep in ancient ground I am sinking, I am howling But I will not be unwound Through the dirt, through blood and weather I feel the drum beneath my chest There are older fires burning I am more than this unrest Bridge [instrumentation drops → ritual drum + whispers] If I’m broken, let me break If I’m lost, I’ll learn the signs I’ve been drowning in the turning Of the wheel that grinds our lives [half-bar silence] Still I breathe Still I stand Final Chorus [full ritual energy: stomps, chants, drones] Every chain I cast to fire Let the ashes mark my way I walk forward with the old ones Through the hunger, through the pain There are better lives awaiting Written deep in root and stone I will not be claimed by sorrow This blood remembers home Outro [piano replaced by low drone + night sounds] [vocal almost spoken] Messy mind… iron breath… Still breathing. Still bound. Still here.
