Lyrics

Mind Over Metal Lyrics by Virus Inc

Rust on the rail
Cold in my lungs
Coffee from a thermos
Before the sun

Mama at the stove
Daddy lacing boots tight
Grease on his fingers
He said
“Boy
Hold the light”

Shop floor humming
Sparks in the air
Mask down
Hands shaking
You held the steel
Said
“Feel that flare
This is how we make a living
Not breakin’”

Little boots on your big old feet
Riding your lap in that rattling truck seat
“Steady on the wheel
Son
Watch that line”
You laughed
“One day you’ll steer with your mind”

Mind over metal
You carved it in me
Calloused hands teaching me to be free
Thank God for the fire and the dirt and the grind
You broke your back so I could sharpen my mind
From the weld shop glow to this glass-top desk
I’m still your boy in a Sunday vest
Mind over metal
Every form I sign
I’m keeping your promise
While I’m using my mind

Mama counting tips by the kitchen phone
Bills in a stack like a wall of stone
She said
“We don’t have much
But we got enough
You stand up straight when the road gets rough”

Learned how to fix what was falling apart
Patch up the pipe and a busted heart
You didn’t flinch
You just showed me how
“Think it through first
The sweat comes after now”

I carry your sayings like tools on my belt (yeah)
They cut through the noise of the life I’m dealt
Every late-night shift
Every worn-out shoe
Laid a bridge from here
Right back to you

Mind over metal
You carved it in me
Calloused hands teaching me to be free
Thank God for the fire and the dirt and the grind
You broke your back so I could sharpen my mind
From the weld shop glow to this glass-top desk
I’m still your boy in a Sunday vest
Mind over metal
Every form I sign
I’m keeping your promise
While I’m using my mind (yeah)

Now I’m in a tower made of tinted glass
Talking in numbers
Moving lines on a graph
But I still smell sweat
Steel
And rain
When the copy room hums like a midnight train

Tie on my neck
But your voice in my ear
“Don’t you ever look down on the ones down here”
I shake that stranger’s hand like I’m greeting you
Eyes straight
Grip firm
Like you taught me to

Mind over metal
You carved it in me
From a beat-up truck to a city skyline
Thank God for the gravel that toughened my spine
You broke your back so I could sharpen my mind
Every long day’s pay
Every sacrifice
Poured the foundation under this new life
Mind over metal
Every hill I climb
I’m holding your promise
While I’m using my mind

I see your hands in the lines on mine
Hear your laugh on the factory line
When I bow my head at the end of the grind
I say
“God
Keep him close
He’s the reason I climbed”

Mind over metal
Burned in my spine
Daddy
I made it
(Using my mind)