[Intro] / ambient rustling of parchment papers, clinking heavy pouches of gold coin on mahogany table, ticking pendulum clock / rigid synthetic 16th-note bassline cutting in, dead dry / female French whisper, heavy tape delay L'ère de la liberté... pots-de-vin et trahison au parlement... (The age of liberty... bribes and treason in parliament...) [Verse 1] / harsh male baritone, dry and deadpan delivery Seventeen-nineteen, the king is dead Putting on a parliamentary head Riksdag gathers in the Riddarhus Cutting all imperial power loose Two factions fighting for the golden chair Trading secrets on the cobblestone square Hats are screaming for an eastern war Paid by Versailles through the velvet door Caps are taking ruble bags from the tsar Selling influence from near and far Parchments signed beneath the candle light Sweden auctioned in the Stockholm night Noble titles bought with foreign pay Watching sovereign power rot away [Pre-Chorus] #heavy metal kick slam #hammer strike French subsidies poured into the hat! Russian silver fattening the rat! #metal stomp #crescendo Corrupted Diet, faction against faction! Greed and treason driving the reaction! [Chorus] / aggressive male shout, full EBM sequence Hats and Caps! The Diet is sold! Drowning in the foreign gold! #metal stomp #hammer strike Parliament of bought deceit! Marching on the Gamla Stan street! War for profit, peace for coin! Which corruption will you join?! [Post-Chorus] / cold female vocal, distant reverb, minimal beat Or étranger... la souveraineté est bradée... (Foreign gold... sovereignty is sold off...) #industrial strike #coin clink Treasury empty. [Verse 2] / harsh male baritone, tight sequence Fifty years of chaos, debt and greed Never serving any citizen's need Inflation raging on the paper bill Pushed through by the aristocratic will Hats send armies to a doomed defeat While the diplomats consume their meat Caps surrender all the fleet command Trading off the welfare of the land Until the pistol clicks inside the hall Watching all the greedy factions fall [Bridge] / beat strips back to solitary 16th bassline and distant metal clang / harsh male baritone, low spoken tone Count the gold. Name your price. French livres. Russian rubles. Sold to the highest bidder. / female French whisper Le parlement s'éteint... le roi reprend le trône... (The parliament dims... the king retakes the throne...) #massive metal slam AUCTION CLOSED! [Chorus] / aggressive male shout, maximum drive and hammer strikes Hats and Caps! The Diet is sold! Drowning in the foreign gold! #metal stomp #hammer strike Parliament of bought deceit! Marching on the Gamla Stan street! War for profit, peace for coin! Which corruption will you join?! [Outro] / beat slows down, heavy kick fades, solitary heavy wooden gavel striking sound block into empty corridor silence / female French whisper Fin de l'ère de la liberté... coup d'état imminent... (End of the age of liberty... coup d'état imminent...) #distant metal clang Shift completed.
