Lyrics
Verse 1The winter gnawed at roof and door,
The eastern drift gave ore no more.
When lamps were dimmed and tools were bound,
A young man heard her underground.
Verse 2She stood where pale quartz split the stone,
As if the dark had shaped her bone.
“Strike three times by the northern wall,
But heed me when the red drops fall.”
Chorus“I promise iron, fire and bread,
And warmth for every winter bed.
Take what you need, not all you find;
Leave the deepest vein behind.
When three knocks sound, lay hammers down.
When red water runs, turn around.
Keep faith with root and rock and pine,
And all your men come home in time.”
Verse 3At dawn they broke the northern wall,
And black ore answered every fall.
The furnace woke, the village fed,
And children slept in warmer beds.
Verse 4For seven years the bargain held,
And every cart with iron swelled.
Then owners came from far away,
Who measured stone by yield and pay.
Chorus“I promise iron, fire and bread,
And warmth for every winter bed.
Take what you need, not all you find;
Leave the deepest vein behind.
When three knocks sound, lay hammers down.
When red water runs, turn around.
Keep faith with root and rock and pine,
And all your men come home in time.”
Verse 5They drove below the warning line,
Where rust-red water crossed the mine.
Three knocks rang through the shivering frame;
The young man called the Bergsrå’s name.
Verse 6The master laughed, “The vein is ours!”
Then stone came down in blackened showers.
The timbers bent, the lanterns died,
The mountain closed from side to side.
BridgeBut through the dust a white hand came
And drew the young man from the frame.
At dawn he woke beneath the fir,
With one last sentence left by her:
“I promised those who kept the line.
The mountain keeps what men would mine.
Your hunger asked, and I supplied;
But greed has never left alive.”
Verse 7They sealed the shaft with timber black,
And no man dared to open it back.
Before each shift, the miners bowed;
No whistle rose, no curse was loud.
Chorus“I promise iron, fire and bread,
And warmth for every winter bed.
Take what you need, not all you find;
Leave the deepest vein behind.
When three knocks sound, lay hammers down.
When red water runs, turn around.
Keep faith with root and rock and pine,
And all your men come home in time.”
OutroStill, when red water stains the stone,
And three knocks sound from depths unknown,
The old men say, “Put out the light.
The Bergsrå keeps her word tonight.”