[Verse 1: Hoarse roaring male lead, rough and huge over the drums] Hundred and ten years of the Alderton heat Black on my collar and the sweat in my feet Company sent a letter on a Tuesday night Said "the last heat's scrap, and you shut off the light" Scrap, they said, like we'd let it go cold Like the last steel out was a thing to be sold So we built eight molds in the back of the yard Out of sand and of nerve, and we kept 'em hidden hard [Pre-Chorus: Hoarse roaring male lead] Every man on the crane, every man on the floor Every one of 'em knows what the last pour is for [Chorus: Hoarse roaring male lead, full voice] Last heat, last heat, open up the gate Pour it out bright, boys, pour it out straight They can lock up the mill, but they can't lock up the name Pour it in the letters, and the letters stay the same [Verse 2: Hoarse roaring male lead, the guitars heavier] A for my father and an L for his knees D for the dust that we coughed in the breeze E for the Easter that I worked on a double R for the rust and the O for the trouble T for the town, and the N at the end For every man who never came back again The foreman knew it and he looked the other way Said "pour it straight, boys, it's your last day" [Pre-Chorus: Hoarse roaring male lead] Every man on the crane, every man on the floor Every one of 'em knows what the last pour is for [Chorus: Hoarse roaring male lead, full voice] Last heat, last heat, open up the gate Pour it out bright, boys, pour it out straight They can lock up the mill, but they can't lock up the name Pour it in the letters, and the letters stay the same [Bridge: Hoarse roaring male lead, ladle tip, the furnace roar pours out and the band comes in heavy with the steel] Tip it Tip it slow Let the whole town see it glow Tip it Tip it right Hundred and ten years in a single night Tip it Tip it home Pour the whole town into letters of its own [Final Chorus: Hoarse roaring male lead, roaring, the whole band] Last heat, last heat, open up the gate Pour it out bright, boys, pour it out straight They can lock up the mill, but they can't lock up the name Pour it in the letters, and the letters stay the same [Outro: Hoarse roaring male lead] Six a.m., and the letters on the hill Every car coming home, reading Alderton still Kids in the back seat ask who made the sign Their grandfathers did, on the very last line [End]
