[Verse 1]
Far in the north
Where maps run out
Cold air carves
Every whispered shout
Sailors chasing
A shorter way east
Found rock and ice
And a frozen feast
[Verse 2]
Whalers came
With their rust red hulls
Smoke and bone
On the quiet swells
Names in ledgers
Ink turned brown
They left their ovens
But the ice stayed proud
[Chorus]
Svalbard
Islands made of stories
Layered like the snow
Ghosts of coal and glory
In the midnight glow
From trapper huts to satellites
You’re written in the sky
Svalbard
Holding time so lightly
While the years rush by
[Verse 3]
Miners digging
In the polar dark
Black dust blooming
On a wool gray scarf
Timber houses
On the permafrost
Coffee steaming
Counting what was lost
[Bridge]
Treaties signed
On a winter table
Many flags
On a single cable
Quiet dogs
Sleeping in the yard
Children learning
What the stars once guarded
[Chorus]