[INTRO] *Rough acoustic guitar strumming* *Harmonica wail* Well, I wake up every morning 'Bout five AM station time Strap into my Procurer And head out to the mines [VERSE 1] Got my hardhat and my coffee, though there ain't no gravity here Strip miners hummin' steady as I work another year Out in the asteroid belts where the good ore used to be Just me and my old barge, mining endlessly Kernite and Omber, that's what pays the bills Blood Raiders show up sometimes, trying to get their kills But I got my drones ready, Hammerheads in the bay Ain't no pirate rat gonna ruin my workday Survey scanner's glowing, showing me the rocks Biggest one's got thirty thousand units, time to fill her up Ore hold's twelve thousand cubic meters when she's full Then it's back to station, another daily pull [CHORUS] I'm a roughneck miner in the asteroi-oid belts Working for my living with the hand that I been dealt Ain't no fancy pilot, just a blue-collar man Strip mining these rocks with these calloused f***ing hands From sun up to sun down, lasers burning bright Filling up my hold with ore from morning into night Some folks fly their battleships, some folks hunt for glory Me? I'm just a miner, and this here's my story [VERSE 2] Started with a Venture, couldn't afford much more Five thousand meter hold and I was happy to the core Saved up every credit, every mineral I refined Till I bought this Procurer, now I'm doing fine Been shot at by gankers, been killed a time or two Lost my ship and cargo but I built it back brand new That's the miner's life, son, sometimes you're gonna die But you clone back up and fit another ship to fly My daddy was a miner, worked the ice fields up in null My grandpa hauled freight in his Charon, cargo full This family's built on grinding, on the honest daily work While the PvP hotshots call us f***ing mining jerks But who's gonna build their ships? Who's gonna make their rounds? Who's gonna mine the minerals that keep this game around? It's us out in the belts, boys, doing the dirty job While they're out there getting famous, we're the working-class mob [CHORUS] I'm a roughneck miner in the asteroi-oid belts Working for my living with the hand that I been dealt Ain't no fancy pilot, just a blue-collar man Strip mining these rocks with these calloused f***ing hands From sun up to sun down, lasers burning bright Filling up my hold with ore from morning into night Some folks fly their battleships, some folks hunt for glory Me? I'm just a miner, and this here's my story [BRIDGE - SPOKEN/SUNG SLOWER] *Music quiets down, just guitar and soft drums* You know what? I've been doing this for years Same belts, same rocks, same routine And people ask me, "Don't you get bored?" And I tell 'em... *Building back up* This is meditation, this is honest work This is knowing that my labor ain't a perk This is self-sufficiency, this is standing tall This is mining my own future, building my own wall Against the chaos and the gankers and the void This is purpose, this is peace, this is employed Doing something real, something tangible and true Not just shooting other pilots, but creating something new [VERSE 3] Got a buddy in my corp, flies a Orca for the boost Sits out in the belt with us, morale stays loose We shoot the shit on comms while the lasers do their work Talk about our families, talk about our quirks Another guy's been mining, hell, since 2003 Says he's seen it all, every patch and every fleet Still comes back to the belts when the world gets too damn loud Says there's something peaceful 'bout floating in a cloud Of asteroids and stardust, just you and your machine No drama, no bullshit, just rocks and laser beams I understand that feeling, I feel it in my bones This simple kind of living in the asteroid zones So call me what you want to, say I'm boring, say I'm lame But I'll be here tomorrow, doing the exact same thing again While you're chasing killmails and your fifteen minutes shine I'll be out here grinding, turning rocks into my dime [FINAL CHORUS - BIG AND PROUD] I'm a roughneck miner in the asteroi-oid belts Working for my living with the hand that I been dealt Ain't no fancy pilot, just a blue-collar man Strip mining these rocks with these calloused f***ing hands From sun up to sun down, lasers burning bright Filling up my hold with ore from morning into night Some folks fly their battleships, some folks hunt for glory Me? I'm just a miner, and this here's my story Yeah, I'm just a miner And I'm damn proud of it This here's my story [OUTRO] *Harmonica solo* *Acoustic guitar fading*
