[Intro] No shore above No floor below Only stars Under snow [Verse 1] The stone pulled night through the water And the fjord became a sky I fell without wind around me Past moons that did not rise The dead stood there in the blackness Not as bones, not pale, not torn They wore the faces of my village As if each had just been born [Pre-Chorus] They did not curse They did not plead They only watched To see my need [Chorus] Black river of stars Carry me but do not claim me Black river of stars Show the truth but do not name me If the dead wear living faces If the sky lies under scars I will keep my breath unbroken In the black river of stars [Verse 2] My father came with empty fingers No carved raven in his palm My mother held a bowl of water Still as death and twice as calm They said the stone can lift all sorrow Open grief and let it flee But behind their eyes the first cold waited Patient as the frozen sea [Pre-Chorus] Love can wear A borrowed face Hunger learns A tender grace [Chorus] Black river of stars Carry me but do not claim me Black river of stars Show the truth but do not name me If the dead wear living faces If the sky lies under scars I will keep my breath unbroken In the black river of stars [Instrumental Break] Ooh Star below Ooh Do not go [Bridge] I wanted one voice to be real One hand to close on mine But the dead do not bargain And the seal does not shine So I spoke no final rune I gave no secret breath And the river turned beneath me With the patience of death [Build-up] The stars went out one by one Like lamps behind a door And I was back beneath the fjord With my knees on the stone once more [Final Chorus] Black river of stars Carry me but do not claim me Black river of stars Show the truth but do not name me If the dead wear living faces If the sky lies under scars I will keep my breath unbroken In the black river of stars Black river of stars Let the false ones drift apart Black river of stars Leave the true names in my heart [Outro] No shore above No floor below Only one rune Still under snow