[Verse 1 – The Robbery] I’m piss-drunk on rye, I can barely stand, I trip on the cobbles, I puke in my hand. Some bastard was yelling, two shadows ran quick I laughed till I choked, thought he just lost his dick. [Chorus 1 – Troubadour] Oh, the bottle is sweet and the drunkard is blind, He thinks it’s all laughter, he pays it no mind. But a man bled in alleys for the coin he had earned, And the thief took his life for the gold that he burned. [Verse 2 – The Prostitute] Had brandy tonight, oh it warmed up my gut, I saw a wee lass with her dress round her butt. She giggled and winked at some fat noble swine, I clapped and I cheered, “Go on, love, that’s fine!” [Chorus 2 – Troubadour] Oh, the bottle is sweet and the drunkard is blind, He thinks it’s all playful, he pays it no mind. But a child sold her body for bread she won’t taste, To a lord with his trousers and hands round her waist. [Verse 3 – The Street Fight] On rum now, by gods, it burns like a flame, Two lads threw some punches, it’s part of the game. One fell in the dirt, the other kept on, I pissed on the wall and kept whistlin’ a song. [Chorus 3 – Troubadour] Oh, the bottle is sweet and the drunkard is blind, He calls it a quarrel, he pays it no mind. But a skull split like fruit on the stones of the square, And the crowd turned away ‘cause they’d nothing to spare. [Verse 4 – The Fire] Now whiskey tonight, the good stuff, the rot, I stumbled on home, found flames where I squat. The roof caved to ashes, the walls blown apart, I laughed, “Guess the bastards just warmed up my heart!” [Chorus 4 – Troubadour] Oh, the bottle is sweet and the drunkard is blind, He jokes at the cinders, he pays it no mind. But his home was a pyre, his kin turned to smoke, And still with a hiccup he called it a joke. [Outro – Troubadour] So drink to the city, so brutal, so rough, Where dying is common and liquor’s enough. He sees only laughter, though life rots away Just another night in Noordhland’s decay.
