[Baritone spoken] Draw near the fire, friends. This is Samhain, the night the old doors open and the dead walk close enough to touch. I'll not sing you of saints, nor of kings. I'll sing you of a debt, paid in grain, in milk, and in children, to a people who came from the sea. And of the night we said: no more. [Aggressive Verse 1] Hark, ye gentle folk, come gather, Hear a tale of old, writ in brine and blood. Long before the fires of Samhain, Ere the Gael was king, ere the rising flood. Nemed's people sailed the raging tide, Plague did reap them — Nemed sickened, died. Then from the deep rose the Fomor host, Kings of the salt and storm, lords of the drowning coast. [Angry Chorus 1] Grain and milk and children, Offered to the sea-kings, Mothers' empty cradles, Pay the price on Hallowe'en. (So the sea is paid its due.) [Aggressive Verse 2] Out on Tory, grim and lonely, Conand's tower stood, built of glass and stone. Every Samhain came the summons, Down to Cétne's plain, where the tithe was owed. Keening mothers lined the frozen sand, Sea-kings tore the young from every hand. Year upon year, from the hearth and shore, Two of each three they took, two of each three we bore. [SOLO Scream] "No more!" cried Fergus, red of side and hand, "Not one more child shall leave this bleeding land!" [Pre Chorus] So spread the word from hearth to hidden glen, And sixty thousand blades rose up again. [Angry Chorus 2] Sharpen spear and sword-blade, Gather on the longships, No more empty cradles, Pay them back on Hallowe'en. (No more the sea its due!) [Rhythmic Pre Chorus] By land and sea they struck at Tory's shore, They breached the glass, they stormed the tower's door, And Conand, proud upon his gleaming throne, Fell headlong with his tower, stone by stone. [Angry Chorus 3] Raise the cry of freedom, Burn the sea-kings' tower, Sixty sails approaching, Morc comes back on Hallowe'en. (Yet still the sea shall claim its due.) [Guitar SOLO] [Aggressive Final Verse] Ship to ship the armies grappled, Spear met sea-king's spear, blood upon the foam. Then the ocean rose in judgement, Wall of tide and storm, none would reach their home. Victor, vanquished, all the sea did take, Thirty souls alone survived the wake. Scattered abroad on the wind and spray, Freedom was won that night, and the sea took its pay. [Explosive Outro] To Britain's mist, to Greece in chains they fled, To northern isles, by stars and sorrow led. But tides that take are tides that bring once more: Their children's children sailed to Erin's shore, And broke the sea-kings' reign forevermore. So when the fires of Samhain light the night, Remember those who bled for this birthright, And keep one ember burning, For the sea forgets no debt. [END]
