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
