Intro
Soot on the visor, sable crown at four a.m.
Foreman's chair still warm from the shift before him
Keys on my hip like a king with no kingdom yet
Verse 1
Pops ran the floor for thirty years, ledger and a limp
Left me the whistle and a coat that never fit
Furnace breathes orange, throws light on the ring
I slide it on cold, call it a borrowed thing
Night crew watches, waiting on the tilt to pour
I read the gauge like scripture, steady on the floor
Every scar on these knuckles is a lesson in heat
Learned to love the burn before I learned to eat
Ladle swings heavy, molten gold like a debt
I carry what he carried, wear the sweat he sweat
Timecard says Ferris, but the sign still says his name
I'm punching in a legacy, not just a shift, not just a claim
They handed me the chair when the old king went down
Said wear it till the sun, then hand it back around
I count the hours like rosary beads, one by one
By six I'm just a son again, the borrowed crown undone
Chorus
Sable crown, borrowed throne, I rule it till the light
Ash on my hands, but I carry it right
Every king in this yard's just a shift away from gone
So I wear the crown like a debt, then I pass it on
Verse 2
Delgado said a soot king ain't nothing but soot
I let the ladle answer, watched the doubt shift loose
Line jammed at three, alarms started ringing
Everybody froze but the chair taught me timing
I called the shutdown quiet the way pops used to
No panic in the voice, just the weight moving through
Cooled ingot steady, crew breathing slow again
