Hearth & Iron (Version 2)

Verse

Granddad's forge sat behind the church, chimney cracked like a rib

Bellows wheezed each morning, coal dust in his lid

Made the horseshoes for the sheriff, hinges for the widow's door

Never charged the poor a nickel, kept his count with something more

Hands like leather maps, burn scars in a row

Said the iron don't forgive you, it just teaches you to grow

House stayed cold at Christmas, drafts under every seam

He warmed the whole damn county, slept beneath a thin, thin sheet

Pre-Chorus

I asked him once why he never kept none for himself

He said the forge don't hoard the heat, it gives it or it melts

Told me legacy's the ash that outlives the flame

Question is what you build with the burn, or just the blame

Chorus

Hearth keeps the room but iron holds the door

I built a hundred houses, slept on none of the floors

His coal still burns in my chest like a second name

Warm hands, cold house — that's the weight I claim

Verse

Now I'm forty stories up, torch bright as a struck match

Welding rebar joints while the wind tries to unlatch

My grip off the beam, harness thin as his old sheet

Same trade, different flame, still don't get to keep the heat

Boss calls it overtime, I call it my inheritance

Every joint I seal's a promise wearing different clothes

Come home smelling like the forge, my daughter hugs the smoke

Says daddy why you always cold, I say warmth's a debt I owe

Pre-Chorus

She asked me why I never keep none for myself

I told her the trade don't hoard the heat, it gives or it melts

Same words my granddad said now living in my mouth

Guess the family debt's the only thing that don't burn out

Chorus

Hearth keeps the room but iron holds the door

I built a hundred houses, slept on none of the floors

His coal still burns in my chest like a second name

Warm hands, cold house — that's the weight I claim

Bridge

They don't put blacksmiths on the money or the wall

No statue for the hands that kept the whole town from the fall

Every gate still standing's got his fingerprint in rust

Legend ain't the noise you make, it's the warmth you leave in trust

I'm breaking one thing, though — my daughter gets the heat

First fire that was ever mine, first floor beneath her feet

Chorus

Hearth ke