[Intro] [Lute plucked hollow; drone steady, oppressive] I live because another fell— That truth has chained me more than hell. [Verse 1] [Lute steady; drum soft like distant thunder] I drank from skins that a dead man bore, His hand still warm when it touched the floor. The rain washed clean what my tongue had sipped, But the taste of blood in the water gripped. [Verse 2] [Fiddle cries faint; drone deepens] I slept in cloaks that the slain had worn, The seams still torn where the steel had sworn. Each thread a prayer, each stitch a plea, Now they keep the cold from haunting me. [Verse 3] [Lute bare; bard’s voice strained] Their faces weigh on my waking breath, I barter life for another’s death. Each step I take on this hollow land, Is a grave I built with my own hand. [Bridge] [Hurdy-gurdy moans; drum heavy, uneven] The tithe is paid by the ones who fall, Their silence feeds me, it feeds us all. But no priest blesses the life I’ve kept, I eat, I sing, because they’ve wept. [Outro] [Lute cuts, one broken note; tavern silent] I live because another fell… And that is a song I cannot quell.
