about
The other history of Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, BC.
lyrics
1.
He promised her a castle, a castle on a hill
a castle built of stone and dreams, whatever she might will
Come with me a-sailing across the ocean blue
A new world is a-waiting, a better world for you
He started as a foreman but soon he owned the mine
he started as a worker but owning suited fine
The fortune he was seeking was hidden underground
where coal seams lay a-waiting, a-waiting to be found
They labour in the darkness the men who work unseen
far from the summer breezes, far from the forest green
They labour in the darkness, the men who mine his wealth
They buy it with their leisure, they buy it with their health
2.
The colony’s best craftsmen are working day and night
to build a sultan’s palace, a palace of delight
With ebony and marble they’re working night and day
to furnish an illusion and sweep the dark away
A poison gas is flowing and pooling in the dark
It waits but for a moment, it waits but for a spark
The coal cars are a-waiting, we can’t hold up the flow
So grab your pick and shovel and take your place below
A master in his kingdom a laird of mine and mill
If you don’t like my wages another miner will
It waits but for a candle and then the mine will blow
and who will count the bodies a-waiting there below?
3.
But death that comes to miners comes to their lords as well
A ticket to redemption no man can buy or sell.
Before the castle’s finished, this monument in stone
the laird is dead and buried. She’ll live in it alone
A castle on a hilltop, a castle built of bones
of miners’ blood and marrow, of widows’ cries and moans
A castle on a hilltop, a castle built of coal
of many an orphan’s nightmare, of many a miner’s soul
Across the sea from Scotland and down around the horn
Out to Vancouver’s Island, where fortunes will be born
Come with me a-sailing across the ocean chill
and I’ll build you a castle, a castle on a hill.
credits
from
My Utopia is DIY,
released June 30, 2018
by Nedjo Blake and Evan Mann
Vocals and guitar: Nedjo Blake
Accordion, violin, and percussion: JA Cockburn
Arranged and engineered by JA Cockburn
license
