[Intro: Viking folk-rock male lead, droning lyre, heavy battle drums far off] Midwinter, fire high, the long hall full of smoke Hrolf up on his carved chair, laughin' at his own joke [Verse 1: Viking folk-rock male lead, heavy battle drums, crunchy guitars, booming Viking vocal] I sang about the raid upon the river towns, sang it true Sang the oars and sang the arrows and the bravest men I knew Halfway through the second verse the jarl stood up to speak Said skald, your songs are thinner than the ale you drink all week Threw a crust against my lyre and the whole hall roared Every warrior on the benches poundin' fists upon the board I didn't say a single word, I didn't raise my voice Just lifted up my drinkin' horn like a man who'd made his choice Skol to you, my jarl, I said, and sat back by the fire Tuned up every string I had and pulled the pegs up higher [Verse 2: Viking folk-rock male lead, crunchy guitars, booming Viking vocal] See, a jarl has swords and silver and a hundred men to row But a jarl goes down like any man, and then where does he go He goes into the saga and he goes into the song And the skald decides the story, and the story lasts so long So I worked the long nights out along the edge of the fjord Every line a little sharper than the edge upon his sword Every rhyme a little hook and every verse a little chain And by spring I had a saga that would sail across the main [Hook: Viking folk-rock male lead, full band, chanted Viking folk-rock hook] I will sing you small, Jarl, sing you small Every hall in Iceland's gonna hear about your fall You can have the silver and the ships and the land I got the last word, and the last word's in my hand [Bridge: Viking folk-rock male lead, shield drum, a deep thudding shield-drum pattern enters under the lyre and stays] Hear the verse they sing in every harbor, every hall Hrolf the Mighty took the beach and then he took the fall Stood up on the latrine plank to make his victory speech And the plank went crack and Hrolf went down beyond his reach Ten thousand men he beat and not a single one gets a line But the plank and the pit and the splash, now that verse is mine A thousand winters later when the swords have turned to rust They'll be laughin' at the jarl who threw a skald a crust [Final Hook: Viking folk-rock male lead, full band, thudding drums, chanted Viking folk-rock hook] I will sing you small, Jarl, sing you small Every hall in Iceland's gonna hear about your fall You can have the silver and the ships and the land I got the last word, and the last word's in my hand [Outro: Viking folk-rock male lead, droning lyre, battle drums fading] Skol to you, my jarl, wherever you went down Every child in every harbor knows the jarl who nearly drowned [End]
