The Final Kiln

[Verse] The potters' wheels are silent The clay left in the mud The kilns They stand as shadows where stoked fires used to burn In Stoke-on-Trent the laughter's holding on through days so stark With calloused hands We carry the tales of those who turned the earth [Verse 2] The smelter's flame's extinguished Steel and coal no more The factories stand abandoned Echoes of a working core But strong are the souls that lived through the blackened streets With hearts of iron forged Even as the industry retreats [Chorus] Through smoke and dust And stories of old Brave hearts remain In streets paved with gold With wit and mirth We face our plight In Stoke-on-Trent We fight the dying light [Verse 3] The common folk remember the craftsman at the wheel Each piece a work of art Each struggle hard as steel We joke amidst the rubble Laugh amid the pain In the crumbling of our trade Our spirit shall remain [Verse 4] The viaducts and railways Deserted Overgrown A testament to toil To hands that wrought from stone Yet here in northern skies Spirits never falter For in our songs and yarns Our history we alter [Chorus] Through smoke and dust And stories of old Brave hearts remain In streets paved with gold With wit and mirth We face our plight In Stoke-on-Trent We fight the dying light