[Intro] | low cello | hoofbeats | cold wind [female] Night came sharp on the north road Black trees bent where the cold wind flowed My mare moved quiet, your bay kept stride Three men waited where the shadows hide [male] One boy bleeding One debt sworn Steel in the dark For the mark from the north [Verse 1] | female lead | tense, playful Three of them, if the boy spoke true Drunk on luck and midnight blue We hit them quiet, take back what’s his Gone before dawn knows where trouble is [male] Stay alive first Settle scores second [female] Fair enough, muscle Consider that reckoned [male] You trust my tracking? That almost sounds like praise [female] Don’t make me regret it Before the sun’s raised [Pre-Chorus] | drums enter Blood in the dirt Heel dragged left Boot prints vanished Where the black pines slept No buckles ringing No careless steel Just breath and shadow And the hunt made real [Chorus] | both | driving There’s a mark from the north Cut in stone, burned in skin There’s a shadow on the road And it’s crawling back again Ride low, ride hard Where the cold trees mourn We found more than bandits By the mark from the north [Verse 2] | male lead | stealth attack Firelight shook through branches thin Three fools laughing with stolen sin One slept heavy, one drank deep One watched the flames but not the trees Eight silent counts One dagger flew One man folded And the night broke through [female] Violet light snapped from my hand Wrapped his wrist when he tried to stand Axe hit dirt, breath hit stone I put him down but left him known [Pre-Chorus] | tense duet No crew, no boss That’s what they swore Just three wolves hungry On a poor man’s road But lies have a smell And fear has a sound One more breath Then judgment came down [Chorus] | both | bigger There’s a mark from the north Cut in stone, burned in skin There’s a shadow on the road And it’s crawling back again Ride low, ride hard Where the cold trees mourn We found more than bandits By the mark from the north [Bridge] | stripped down | intimate [male] Such a waste of life To leave men in the dirt [female] No pleasure in it But less harm than hurt [male] I don’t like wearing Judge and blade [female] Then I’ll be your balance When the hard choice is made [both] A vicious streak And a mercy with a name [Verse 3] | female lead | dark discovery Under sour wine And rusted steel We found a little god With a melted leer Dark stone grinning Where stone should sleep Limbs too long And the firelight deep [male] This isn’t bandit work Not road-thief craft [female] Old and wrong With a crooked laugh [male] Wrap it tight Touch it less [female] Curiosity burns When it finds the flesh [Chorus] | both | ominous There’s a mark from the north Cut in stone, burned in skin There’s a shadow on the road And it’s crawling back again Ride low, ride hard Where the cold trees mourn We found more than bandits By the mark from the north [Verse 4] | male lead | quieter We found the boy’s horse Tied too hard Mud on his legs Rope scars raw Easy now, lad No harm from me I fed him an apple And set him free [female] Works on most creatures If fruit’s involved [male] Dangerous claim [female] And neatly solved [Verse 5] | both | returning to inn [female] South by silence Dawn still pale [male] Three horses breathing On a frost-white trail [female] The boy gets his life And his horse back too [male] That’s enough mercy For one night’s due [female] Then came his story No blood, no knife [male] His parents dead Like something swallowed their life [Pre-Chorus] | slow build No wounds No struggle No cry in the yard Just breath stolen clean And the whole world gone hard Wildlife silent Wind gone thin Men from the north With that same mark inked in [Final Chorus] | full power There’s a mark from the north Cut in stone, burned in skin There’s a shadow on the road And it’s calling us in Ride low, ride hard Where the cold trees mourn We’re bound for the dark By the mark from the north There’s a mark from the north And the dawn looks worn We ride for the sword And the storm being born [Outro] | cello fading | whispered duet [female] Stone in the pouch [male] Steel at the side [both] The mark from the north And nowhere to hide
