Shelter from the Storm (A Cappella)

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 coldhearted? 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 Heh, 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 waver, this is the price we pay for Safety one day for our children on the path we pave them And, 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 coldhearted? 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 'til your bones sing And 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 taken 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 coldhearted? 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 us no two snowflakes are the same And everyone's a wonder, something not to take in vain Of Mother Nature's beauty, of the universe at play Seems that 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 flames 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 know 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