“This Rough Country” from SWEET LOUISA

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This Rough Country

From the opera Sweet Louisa, libretto by Rob Hartmann, music by Katie Kring

My grandfather came here from Prussia at twenty
Young strong and foolish, he found him a wife
He’d not be a sailor, of the sea he’d had plenty
No, he went to the mines, where he spent his whole life

This rough country asks you “Can you make a mark here?”
This rough country asks you “How much will you give?”
Scraping, surviving, till breath leaves your body
And this rough country tells you
How long you shall live

My grandmother raised me to understand nature
What we most cherish is soon to be gone
The waves come to rob you
The earth comes to claim you
She spent her whole life letting go, moving on

My husband, my brothers gave their lives mining copper
And so many others gave their lives to the lake
This rough country asks you, “Where will you perish?”
Underground, underwater?
That’s the only choice you make.

There’s no time to more
No time to grieve
This rough country owns you
This rough country asks you
What mark will you make?
What trace will you leave?