[Intro] Ash upon the morning Steel beneath the skin A blade remembers What men forget [Verse 1] They forged my grief in living iron, bound beneath a gilded throne Every oath I swore was shattered, every road was walked alone Kings may raise ten thousand banners, crowns may chase the rising sun Yet no empire outlives memory, nor escapes what it has done [Chorus] Hear the silence, count the names Every scar still bears a name Iron remembers, long after kingdoms fall When every name is dust upon the wind, I remember them all Though time devours every banner, though oceans swallow every throne Still the blade bears witness, when no one else comes home [Verse 2] Ghosts walk softly through the snowfall, leaving footprints none can see Every heartbeat forged in anguish, still beats somewhere inside me I've crossed fields where flowers bloom now, over rust and broken spears Spring forgets the blood beneath them, I have carried it for years [Chorus] Hear the wind through the reeds Every whisper calls to me Iron remembers, long after kingdoms fall When every name is dust upon the wind, I remember them all Though mountains weather into valleys, though rivers smooth the hardest stone Still the blade bears witness, when no one else comes home [Bridge] If sorrow is the price I carry, then let these shoulders never break If memory is all that's left, then let remembrance be my fate Not for vengeance, not for glory, not because the scars remain But because the lost deserve a witness, not another nameless grave [Guitar Solo] [Chorus] Though flesh may fail, still the steel endures Though voices fade, still the oath remains Though centuries erase the trail Iron remembers, not the hatred, not the throne But every hand that reached through darkness, every soul that led me home O-shaku-achi And wind remain [Outro] Ash feeds the forest Stone returns to earth The river forgets The mountain yields The blossom falls But iron remembers Iron remembers
