Whistling the Esperanza by Ewan McLennan Lyrics
On a still night under darkness men fastened their boots
Their headtorches flickered, their tobacco smoke rose
With the cogs and wheels whirring they were lowered below
As they whistled the Esperanza
In the hot dusty air, their picks and drills flew
With the passing of hours the specks of gold grew
Till a deafening roar shook the hill with a blow
And snuffed out their Esperanza
As the dust fell and settled the silence gave way
To the miners who lay there untouched and unscathed
But where the rubble had fallen it blocked their retreat
Their hopes were now with San Lorenzo
Up above shrill alarm bells greeted the dawn
From their posts men scattered their radios drawn
From the mine the news travelled to the families at home
To the nation and echoed beyond
Before long the rescue was planned and in place
There were drillers from Texas brought to join the race
But with six hundred metres of solid rock in their way
Their faces were grim but determined
From the length of the country and the hills they soon came
On the sands families gathered to wait and prey for their men
They pitched up their tents there in the hot stinging sun
And they named it Camp Esperanza
For the nine weeks that they waited nerves and tempers were frayed
But a school for the children and shrines for the miners were made
There were feuds, there was marriage and a baby was born
All under Camp Esperanza
The men crouched below in the heat and the dark
Surviving on rations lowered down the mine shaft
They appointed a doctor and a cook from their ranks
And swore that they’d struggle through together
After six days of drilling they finally struck through
To the cavern where the miners joy greeted the view
The tunnel was carved and the line cast down
To where the dust and the tears now ran together
The weak were the first on the journey above
Entombed and twisting from the pull and the shove
They rose from the earth on a woven line of steel
To the strains of the band’s Esperanza
One by one each miner emerged into the sun
To the thirty three families who stood to welcome their men
Amidst the sand and the rubble the crowds gathered and cheered
And sang for their newly knighted heroes
A mother held her son in a careful embrace
A young girl looked on, the warm sun framing her face
As he lifted her up she whispered, Daddy promise me
Your days underground are done
Above the San Jose mine the sun shone, the wind blew
In the way that it had since 1892
Still in danger men toil, traded for gold
Still the harsh winds there scatter the topsoil
On a still night under darkness men fastened their boots
Their headtorches flickered, their tobacco smoke rose
With the cogs and wheels whirring they were lowered below
As they whistled the Esperanza
Their headtorches flickered, their tobacco smoke rose
With the cogs and wheels whirring they were lowered below
As they whistled the Esperanza
In the hot dusty air, their picks and drills flew
With the passing of hours the specks of gold grew
Till a deafening roar shook the hill with a blow
And snuffed out their Esperanza
As the dust fell and settled the silence gave way
To the miners who lay there untouched and unscathed
But where the rubble had fallen it blocked their retreat
Their hopes were now with San Lorenzo
Up above shrill alarm bells greeted the dawn
From their posts men scattered their radios drawn
From the mine the news travelled to the families at home
To the nation and echoed beyond
Before long the rescue was planned and in place
There were drillers from Texas brought to join the race
But with six hundred metres of solid rock in their way
Their faces were grim but determined
From the length of the country and the hills they soon came
On the sands families gathered to wait and prey for their men
They pitched up their tents there in the hot stinging sun
And they named it Camp Esperanza
For the nine weeks that they waited nerves and tempers were frayed
But a school for the children and shrines for the miners were made
There were feuds, there was marriage and a baby was born
All under Camp Esperanza
The men crouched below in the heat and the dark
Surviving on rations lowered down the mine shaft
They appointed a doctor and a cook from their ranks
And swore that they’d struggle through together
After six days of drilling they finally struck through
To the cavern where the miners joy greeted the view
The tunnel was carved and the line cast down
To where the dust and the tears now ran together
The weak were the first on the journey above
Entombed and twisting from the pull and the shove
They rose from the earth on a woven line of steel
To the strains of the band’s Esperanza
One by one each miner emerged into the sun
To the thirty three families who stood to welcome their men
Amidst the sand and the rubble the crowds gathered and cheered
And sang for their newly knighted heroes
A mother held her son in a careful embrace
A young girl looked on, the warm sun framing her face
As he lifted her up she whispered, Daddy promise me
Your days underground are done
Above the San Jose mine the sun shone, the wind blew
In the way that it had since 1892
Still in danger men toil, traded for gold
Still the harsh winds there scatter the topsoil
On a still night under darkness men fastened their boots
Their headtorches flickered, their tobacco smoke rose
With the cogs and wheels whirring they were lowered below
As they whistled the Esperanza