Track Insight / Lyrics
You watch the fog eat the river span
The lamp turns slow like a dying man
Iron wheels bite the frozen rail
You hear the freight car's heavy tale
Mist clings low to the girder ribs
The beam sweeps wide where the shadow lives
Pistons cough in the belly deep
You count the cars while the town asleep
Cold iron bridge holds the night
You ride the rust into morning light
Steel sings sharp where the water falls
You answer the span when the fog horn calls
Salt eats the paint on the boxcar side
You taste the brine on the turning tide
Couplers clash with a hollow ring
You know the weight that the spans must bring
Cold iron bridge holds the night
You ride the rust into morning light
Steel sings sharp where the water falls
You answer the span when the fog horn calls
No lantern now but the spark in your chest
The river swallows the engine's rest
You are the track, you are the steel
You are the wound that the ages heal
Dawn breaks thin on the rivet heads
You see the path where the freight car treads
Smoke uncurls from the stack's black mouth
You taste the iron, you taste the south
The mist burns off, the span stands clear
You watch the last car disappear
Silence settles on the steel deck
You wipe the salt from your weathered neck
Cold iron bridge holds the night
You ride the rust into morning light
Steel sings sharp where the water falls
You answer the span when the fog horn calls
Cold iron bridge, you hold the line
The light keeps turning, the wheels keep time
