Lyrics
IntroBefore the dawn, the furnace drew its breath,
Its red light climbed the rafters of our home.
The valley slept beneath a veil of ash,
But iron called, and no one slept for long.
Verse 1I knew the whistle better than the birds,
My father’s boots before they reached the door.
The windows shook when molten rivers ran,
And sparks rose through the darkness from the floor.
My mother washed the soot from collar and cuff,
And counted every burn he would not name.
I learned the sound of iron in the dark
Before I ever learned to write my name.
ChorusI am the daughter of the furnace,
Raised beneath its crimson sky.
It filled our bowls with bread and silence,
And painted fire across the night.
While other children dreamed of rivers,
I slept beside the hammer’s flame.
I am the daughter of the furnace,
And the furnace knew my name.
Verse 2We sorted stone in cold and summer rain,
We hauled the pails and kept the kitchens bright.
We bound the wounds the foreman never saw,
And waited through the longest shift of night.
No bell was rung for all the work we bore,
No ledger held the hours that we gave.
The iron carried names of fathers far,
The women kept those names above the grave.
Verse 3One winter he came home before the bell,
His hands were still, his breathing thin and slow.
No man would speak of what had happened there,
But every woman in the village knew.
The furnace offered neither grief nor blame,
It only breathed and waited to be fed.
That night its glow lay red across his face,
While Mother held his hand beside the bed.
Verse 4At spring’s first thaw, I followed down the rails,
Beyond the smoke, beyond the fields of ore.
I swore no flame would rule the life I chose,
No whistle call me from my bed once more.
I wore clean linen, learned another trade,
And lived where morning entered clear and pale.
But sometimes, in the quiet before sleep,
I heard the hammers ringing through the vale.
Verse 5Years later, I returned beneath the pines.
The furnace stack stood silent in the rain.
Young birches rose between the rusted tracks,
And moss lay thick upon the loading chain.
The windows stared like eyes that had gone blind,
The yard was filled with willowherb and stone.
Yet somewhere underneath the broken hearth,
I heard it breathe and call its daughter home.
ChorusI am the daughter of the furnace,
Though its fire commands no more.
It fed our table, dimmed his eyesight,
And bent her hands with years of toil.
I crossed the dark and northern forests,
I built a life beyond its flame.
Still I am daughter of the furnace,
And I will not conceal the name.
OutroLet birch roots break the walls of iron,
Let rain run clear through ash and stone.
The fire is cold, the men have vanished,
The forest slowly claims its own.
But I remember all the women
No book recorded, praised or named.
I am the daughter of the furnace.
I carry every hidden flame.