The Red and the Black

Iron Kingdoms
1

I wrote a mining song for the Iron Kingdoms, hope you enjoy it.

The Red and the Black

Hew the stone and break the clay
Work from dawn ‘till end of day
Lives are spent to fill a sack
Precious ore of red and black

Chorus:
Beneath the walls of Thunderhead
Work the mines until I’m dead
Digging like a mad steamjack
Fill the carts with red and black

Sixteen hours underground
Rest is nowhere to be found
If I work until I die
Thunderhead is where I lie

Down into the darkened shaft
Hands clenched tight on shovel haft
Calluses and broken back
Sacrificed for red and black

Chorus:
Beneath the walls of Thunderhead
Work the mines until I’m dead
Digging like a mad steamjack
Fill the carts with red and black

Hear the shaft boss call my name
Eyes reflecting lantern’s flame
Picks and shovels come to hand
Desperate, we make our stand

Shaft boss pistol fires its round
Leaves me bleeding on the ground
Now there is no going back
Gave my life for red and black

Chorus:
Beneath the walls of Thunderhead
Work the mines until I’m dead
Digging like a mad steamjack
Fill the carts with red and black

6 Likes
2

That song takes a really dark turn… sounds like it would be sung by slaves at the end?

Also, if red and black is a reference to the minerals that go into blasting powder, then that would both be an explanation of why the mountains are called Thunderheads, and it would be incredibly dangerous to find those two minerals in the same mine (though those minerals should be a lot less dangerous when not refined, powdered and intermixed, of course).

Also, I really suck at music, but what is the tune that this song is suppoed to be set to?

1 Like
3

Set to Byker Hill, a fine song about coal miners. And yes, it’s about the ore that makes blasting powder.

4

Would you give me your permission to try some AI generated music from those awesome lyrics using Melobytes (text to song) (procedurally generated music) [Melobytes.com] ?

1 Like
5

Sure! Anything would beat my singing, as my wife will tell you. ;o)

6

Please do so! I’d love to hear it!

7

Oh man, Melobytes gave a horrible result, like scary. Music was just awful and you couldn’t understand a single word. I tried with Voicemod too, but it has a very limited amount of melodies to choose from, it doesn’t create a new one based on the lyrics. I’ll try to find something better.