The Canary's Silence Verse 1 The mountain is a hungry beast, it swallows up the day I watched you take your lantern out and walk into the gray You kissed my cheek, the soot was cold, you said you’d be home soon But the earth has got a heavy grip beneath the waning moon Verse 2 At noon the ground began to shake, a shudder through the floor A sound like thunder trapped inside, behind a locked-up door The town ran screaming to the pit, the black smoke started to rise And hundred women stood in dread with terror in their eyes Chorus Oh, the canary’s silent now, the air is thick and still They’re digging through the broken stone beneath the barren hill I call your name into the dark, but it only echoes back My love is buried deep beneath the mountain’s heavy black Verse 3 They came and told me late last night to give up on the ghost They said the timber gave way first where the cavern narrows most They passed around the copper tags, and yours was in their hand A piece of metal in my palm is all that's left of my man Chorus Oh, the canary’s silent now, the air is thick and still They’re digging through the broken stone beneath the barren hill I call your name into the dark, but it only echoes back My love is buried deep beneath the mountain’s heavy black Bridge I sit beside the boarded gates where the cold wind starts to moan They tell me that I’m not alone, but I go home alone The coal will burn in someone’s hearth and keep their parlor warm While I am freezing in the dark, caught in a quiet storm Outro The mountain won’t give back its dead... It keeps the treasures it was fed. I hear your pickaxe in the breeze... Down where the earth is on its knees. Shh... listen close...
