Thawing Out the Ribs (Version 2)

Intro

Radiator clinking on the baseboard

Winter in the cartilage

Watch the frost retreat (retreat)

Verse 1

Cast iron on the burner, watch the blue ring bloom

Scraping gray sleet off the windshield at noon

Been living out a coat with the zipper stuck high

Jaw tight, counting cracks where the salt ate the lime

Thirty-two below in the marrow, dead quiet

Eating just to function on a cold wire diet

Kept the windows rolled up so the wind wouldn't bite

Forgot how heavy breath gets when you seal it too tight

Now the pilot light clicks and the pilot light catches

Striking red sulfur on the damp paper matches

Little prickle in the wrist, little twitch in the thumb

You don't know you were frozen till you stop being numb

Hear the copper pipes groan through the crawlspace floor

Water pooling round the rubber trim along the front door

I can open up the collar, let the draft rush in

Ain't running for the shelter, let the air hit skin (skin)

Chorus

Pins and needles when the winter quit (quit)

Steam rising where the collar split (split)

Blood pumping where the dead frost sits

Slow fire, thawing out the ribs (ribs)

Pins and needles when the winter quit (quit)

Steam rising where the collar split (split)

Blood pumping where the dead frost sits

Slow fire, thawing out the ribs

Verse 2

Black slush on the curb turning back into rain

Felt a shock in my knuckles when I reached for the chain

Two years eating cold rice standing at the stove

Treating every single feeling like an invoice I owed

Tires spinning on the gravel, catching traction at last

Watch the condensation vanish off the rearview glass

Used to take a full hour just to unclench a grip

Now the coffee scalds the tongue and the heavy layers slip

Pavement steaming up the avenue, three in the night

Neon amber in the gutter looking suddenly bright

I spent seasons in the bunker calculating my breath

Scared that stepping in the noon was gonna melt what was left

Now the thermostat clicks into seventy-two

Fingers drumming on the dash like they got work to do

It's a sting when it wakes, it's an ache in the chest

Survival was the armor, now I'm dropping the vest (vest)

Chorus

Pins and needles when the winter quit (quit)

Steam rising where the collar split (split)

Blood pumping where the dead frost sits

Slow fire, thawing out the ribs (ribs)

Pins and needles when the winter quit (quit)

Steam rising where the collar split (split)

Blood pumping where the dead frost sits

Slow fire, thawing out the ribs

Bridge

The freeze had a purpose, kept the bleeding on pause

Kept the damage wrapped up behind locked pantry doors

Now the melt is running clear, washing grit from the floor

Ain't just bracing for the impact anymore (more)

Deep breath, no sting (sting)

Let the circulation swing

Outro

Water boiling in the kettle

Drop the shoulders

Feel the heat settle (settle)

Slow fire

Thawing out the ribs