ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵃˡˡ ᵒᶠ ʷⁱⁿᵗᵉʳ

[Prelude - brushed bells, dry room tone, a thin guitar harmonic] Winter's touch on a window like a memory Like something the sun can’t talk out of me You almost touch it , it turns to vapor But drag me through July, cracked lips and all a flaming sea I’d still stop for that cold, clean shape Like something the sun can’t talk out of me [Intro - distant heartbeat kick, single low tom every four bars, cold pad drones, faint metallic scrapes] [Am] A clock in the hall keeps missing the hour A chair leg taps once, then thinks better of it Cold breath hangs on the kitchen glass Like the room forgot to let go (I think better of it) In the hush where silence weaves its thread A far-off train slides under the floorboards Tinny and slow, like a wire pulled tight One low drum, then nothing for a while And the dark holds still to listen [Verse 1 - sparse bass enters, soft riding cymbal, voice low and close] [Am G] A pulse, a drum, defiant in its bed [Em F] Keeps measured march through caverns dark and deep [Am G] While tempests born of slumber fiercely swell and sweep [Pre-Chorus - strings swell under, slight distortion on the edges] [F Em] Dreams ride like horsemen on the midnight plain [G Am] Hooves of chaos thundering unrestrained [Chorus - full drums hit, bass thickens, voice opens] [(Am)] They buffet bone and vein with savage art [(G)] A feast of fire that tears the sleeping heart [(F)] Yet still it beats—unbowed, unbowed— [(Em)] I scream! I Yell! I say the quiet part out loud This inner world where primal forces ride This secret place where untamed spirits hide This churning depth where ancient powers sleep This silent ground where unknown currents creep [Verse 2 - same sparse pulse as Verse 1, slight vocal grit] [Am G] No gentle brook, but torrent unforeseen [Em F] Twisted forms that bloom and choke between [Am G] The quiet frost that claims the outer world [Em F] And inner storms where truth and madness whirl [Pre-Chorus] [F Em] Each surge a banner raised against the night [G Am] A quiet war no waking eye ignites [Chorus] [(Am)] The mind, a fragile plain, receives the charge [(G)] And yields its fields to dreams both fierce and large [(F)] Yet still it beats—unbowed, unbowed— [(Em)] I scream! I Yell, I say the quiet part out loud This inner world where primal forces ride This secret place where untamed spirits hide This churning depth where ancient powers sleep This silent ground where unknown currents creep [Bridge - drums drop to heartbeat only, voice almost spoken, then swell] [Bridge - bare pulse, distant low strings, voice cracked and intimate] [Am] Till dawn’s cold blade divides the fray once more [G] And leaves the heart still marching [F] Evermore [Em] -still marching- [Am] Evermore [F] Evermore [Em] -still marching- [Am] Evermore [Final Chorus - full force, layered harmonies on “unbowed”, final hit held] [(Am)] They buffet bone and vein with savage art [(G)] A feast of fire that tears the sleeping heart [(F)] Yet still it beats—unbowed, unbowed— [(Em)] I scream! I Yell, I say the quiet part out loud! This inner world where primal forces ride This secret place where untamed spirits hide This churning depth where ancient powers sleep This silent ground where unknown currents creep [(F)] Unbowed [(Em → Am)] And the heart keeps marching evermore [Outro - everything strips to single heartbeat kick and fading pad] [Am] -still it beats- [Am] one thud in the hall [Am] then two more, out of step [Am] the clock blinks 4:13 [Am] and still won't call it [Am] still it beats [Am] still it beats [Am] until the room Until winter lets go