Shelter from the Storm - The Stupendium

Heave lads!

Ho lads!

Forget the comforts of home;

you’re a nomad

We’ve lost so much since we first started

Are our hearts cold or are we cold-hearted?

So pray to your lord or your foreman

That the sun might rise in the morning

They told us hell was warm

But our empire fell for shelter from the storm

On the run from London town

Nothing left but rubble there to plunder now

Torn asunder, buried underground

Beneath the tundra and a hundred weight of brothers drowned

Now we’re gonna need another crown

So huddle round, hunker down, man the shovels, plough

And every hundred paces pray and lay another down

Another mother, son or lover lost, the frost is out

For lonely drifters in the snow drifts, won’t be scuppered now

Stay devout, tough it out, til the sun is out

Trust the censor, shun dissenters, hunt and flush them out

Keep the faith and trust there’s grace behind the thunderclouds

Or fall in line and march in time against the climate, proud

What are we becoming now?

Is this the life we prayed for?

Time is running out

There’s nothing left but labour

We write our future in the ice like it was pen and paper

Leave for future generations more than just a generator

We must never waiver;

this is the price we pay for

Safety one day for our children on the path we pave them

In the end know that history depends

On an empire forged in the flames of what we gave up

Heave lads!

Ho lads!

Forget the comforts of home;

you’re a nomad

We’ve lost so much since we first started

Are our hearts cold or are we cold-hearted?

So pray to your lord or your foreman

That the sun might rise in the morning

They told us hell was warm

But our empire fell for shelter from the storm

Turn your collars to the wind

As our odyssey begins

Feel the ice creeping in until your bones sing

As the tempest descends and your ears ring

That’s the bells of the church that we’re preaching

Now grieving is a luxury we spun to weave our cloaks

Comfort, warmth, and plenty feel like centuries ago

The storm won’t crush our spirits like a tent beneath the snow

Every upper lip gets stiff at 20 C below

No gold or silver, coal’s the only thing of worth to me

The only precious metal to our name would be the mercury

That fragile strip of burgundy that ever hurtles to the deep

Alerting us as Mother Nature’s taking every cursed degree

I’ve nothing left, my only treasure is my word to keep

Keep bellies filled, treat the ill, and preserve the heat

But can I keep the peace as we bleed through adversity?

How’s a shepherd supposed to lead

Without a dog to herd the sheep?

These choices that I make, I make to save our nation

What’s a little sawdust when you face annihilation?

Is childhood so sacred?

Or just resources wasted?

Every value that I thought I had debased and razed to save us

Heave lads!

Ho lads!

Forget the comforts of home;

you’re a nomad

We’ve lost so much since we first started

Are our hearts cold or are we cold-hearted?

So pray to your lord or your foreman

That the sun might rise in the morning

They told us hell was warm

But our empire fell for shelter from the storm

Growing up they told no two snowflakes are the same

And every one’s a wonder, something not to take in vain

Of Mother Nature’s beauty

Of the universe at play

Seems she’s abstained from duty, left us here and turned away

Fingers splintered into kindling and hearts as dark as coal

As heat and hope are dwindling we march towards our goal

Committed to the hymns we sing so after all is told

The generations after us aren’t cast into the cold

So burn us in the furnace, let our souls ignite the flame

Use our bones to stoke the embers

Use our blood to oil the chains

We are nothing now but engines rending flesh to find a way

And as we fall we die to light a brighter day

Every shiver will deliver us deliverance in time

Burn the incense of our innocence and in a sense we thrive

Pray the future that we’re building will be worth its weight in lives

So take heed but take no pity as the city must survive