Lyrics
Verse 1The snow slips down from Långban’s stone,
from iron ribs and earth-brown bone.
The old mine dreams beneath the hill,
but deep below, its heart beats still.
Verse 2Where manganese and cobalt sleep,
where silver ghosts in darkness keep,
the richest veins of ancient ground
wake softly now without a sound.
BridgeThe frost lets go, the shadows run,
the rock grows warm beneath the sun.
And Bergslagen, with thawing hand,
lifts winter’s coat from lake and land.
ChorusO Långban, rise from snow and rain,
your sleeping fire burns again.
Through birch and stream, through light and stone,
the spring has called your spirit home.
Verse 3The lakes of Bergslagen breathe once more,
white ice breaks loose from shore to shore.
Their winter gowns drift pale and thin,
as happy waters laugh within.
Verse 4Small brooks awake in forest shade,
through moss and root their songs are laid.
They tumble down with silver cheer,
as if they’d waited half the year.
BridgeThe wild geese write across the sky,
the gulls return with hungry cry.
Above the pines, the daylight grows,
and nobody misses shoveling snow.
ChorusO Långban, rise from snow and rain,
your sleeping fire burns again.
Through birch and stream, through light and stone,
the spring has called your spirit home.
Verse 5In village yards the people stand,
with coffee warm in weathered hands.
They speak of Walpurgis, fire, and song,
of nights grown short and days grown long.
Verse 6The children chase the muddy light,
the chimneys sigh their last of white.
And old men smile at cloudless skies,
with spring reflected in their eyes.
BridgeNo hammer rings, no furnace roars,
yet life returns through hidden doors.
The ore may sleep in earth’s dark keep,
but every spring climbs from the deep.
ChorusO Långban, rise from snow and rain,
your sleeping fire burns again.
Through birch and stream, through light and stone,
the spring has called your spirit home.
ChorusO Långban, bloom in northern flame,
the thaw now whispers out your name.
From mine and meadow, lake and loam,
the spring has called your spirit home.
OutroThe dark earth warms, the waters run —
and Långban wakes beneath the sun.