[Intro] [Lute plucked in uneven rhythm; hurdy-gurdy drone low and heavy] The river ran dark where the steel had sung, And iron drowned the breath from lungs. [Verse 1] [Lute and drum, steady like a march] The clash was fierce, yet the sky stayed gray, I stumbled through bodies that barred my way. A comrade’s hand still clutched my sleeve, But his eyes were glass, and they would not leave. [Verse 2] [Fiddle joins, wailing faintly above the drone] The river took men, both friend and foe, The current dragged where the red did flow. No saint nor priest would bless that tide, I knelt and drank what the dead supplied. [Verse 3] [Lute bare; drum slow heartbeat; bard’s voice cracks] Steel split the air, and I carved through bone, Each strike a hymn that was not my own. I lived, though the river begged me lie, And cursed my breath as the others died. [Bridge] [Hurdy-gurdy moans; drum pounds hollow, irregular] They say the river cleanses all, But I saw it keep what men let fall. Iron and marrow, oath and scream, It swallows the truth but leaves the dream. [Outro] [Lute fades; fiddle holds a single strained note, then cuts] The river ran dark where the steel had sung… And iron weighs the breath in my lungs.
