Lead Beneath the Salt — A Song Inspired by 17th-century lead ingots recovered from a historic shipwreck

[Title: Lead Beneath the Salt]

[Verse 1]
Down where the daylight loses its name
Iron ribs sleep under green-black rain
Hands that loaded the weight are gone
But the cargo keeps holding on

[Pre-Chorus]
Every silent thing has a throat
When the rope starts biting the palm

[Chorus]
Lead beneath the salt, come up slow
Old gray heart from the undertow
We were made to sink, we were made to stay
But the tide gives nothing away
Lead beneath the salt, lead beneath the salt

[Verse 2]
Numbers stamped on a drowned-down skin
A century closes and lets one in
Men with lamps and a careful line
Lift the dark one inch at a time

[Pre-Chorus]
What the deep remembers, the deck must learn
What was lost can still return

[Chorus]
Lead beneath the salt, come up slow
Old gray heart from the undertow
We were made to sink, we were made to stay
But the tide gives nothing away
Lead beneath the salt, lead beneath the salt

[Bridge]
The old weight breaks the surface like a confession
No captain calling, no bell to ring
Just the strain of a rope and the old weight singing

[Lead Guitar Solo]

[Final Chorus]
Lead beneath the salt, come up slow
Old gray heart from the undertow
If a buried thing can find the day
Maybe nothing is thrown away
Lead beneath the salt, lead beneath the salt