[Intro] (low didgeridoo drone, circular-breathed; a lone frame drum in the dark) In the cold and dreary Northland we came seeking what remembers Crossed the black on frozen water for the thing that outlasts winter [Verse 1: male throat singing, low and rhythmic] (didgeridoo lays the pattern, drums driving) I have wrecked my magic snow-shoes Sends the black-frost of the heavens All this life is cold and dreary Ukko's life is dark and dismal [Verse 1 cont: female voice] (harsh and open — a call across ice, not a song) Like the hoar-frost of the morning we came drifting, we came burning Turn to ice thy pliant fingers still we walked the white unturning [Chorus: male and female throat singing, call and response] (didgeridoo blast) Canst thou forge for me the Sampo Cannot forge for thee the Sampo Found no smithy, found no bellows Found no chimney, found no anvil (didgeridoo drop) Under us the archive sleeping and it never knew we came here [Verse 2: male throat lead, female overtones above] (sequencer accelerates — the vision of the forge) Ilmarinen starts the bellows By the furnace, by the anvil Where the winds might fill his bellows Thou canst wear the golden girdle [Bridge: female voice solo] (only the didge and a held breath — drums drop out completely) Sink thee in the fatal snow-drift Nothing answered, nothing wakened We were standing on the answer We were sleeping on the door [Final Chorus: full throat choir, overwhelming] (every layer returns — didgeridoo, frame drums, throat choir) Canst thou forge for me the Sampo Cannot forge for thee the Sampo Found no smithy, found no bellows Found no chimney, found no anvil [Outro] (drums recede, the didgeridoo drone alone, dissolving) To the songster's golden measures the ice took back the seekers In the cold and dreary Northland
