[Intro: Bulgarian folk female lead, open-throat cry over a kaval flute] Oy, haide, come on up, the road is long, the air is thin Oy, haide, bring your papers, see how far they get you in [Verse 1: Bulgarian folk female lead, hard and fierce over pounding seven-eight drums] There's a pass above the village where the eagles go to think And the only road that climbs it has a drop on either brink Twenty winters I have held it with a lantern and a dog And I know which stones will hold you and which ones are only fog Then a man came up in summer in a coat too nice for here With a paper and a pen and a smile from ear to ear Said, "The company wants a highway, name a number, name it high" Nema, I said, there's no number, and I watched him wonder why [Verse 2: Bulgarian folk female lead, harder, kaval riff between the lines] So he came again in autumn with three men and a machine Said the law was on his side now, and the law was very clean I said, "Haide, then, come up it, bring your law up on your back" And I watched them from the summit as they slid on every track First the machine lost its footing on the seventh hairpin bend Then the three men lost their courage, then the law lost all its friends And the man in the nice coat, he was crawlin' on his knees Oy, I came down with the lantern, and I offered him some tea [Hook: Bulgarian folk female lead, full drums] You can bring your paper, bring your men and your brass I'll be standin' at the top of the hard pass You can climb it if you want, but you won't climb fast And the answer at the top is a hard pass [Breakdown: Bulgarian folk female lead, valley call, one long open-throat call across the valley and the drums answer from far off] Oy-y-y, can you hear me down there, can you hear me at the mill? Every voice that ever told you no is ringin' off this hill I don't need a gun, I don't need a wall, I don't need a sign The mountain says it for me, and the mountain's on my side Come back with a hundred men, come back with a thousand more Every hairpin on this mountain says the thing I said before Nema, nema, there's no number, there's no paper, there's no pen And I'll pour the tea at the bottom when you're crawlin' down again [Final Hook: Bulgarian folk female lead, full drums] You can bring your paper, bring your men and your brass I'll be standin' at the top of the hard pass You can climb it if you want, but you won't climb fast And the answer at the top is a hard pass [End]
