1. |
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The ceaseless beating of the drums
The strength of the primitive in me
The shimmering haze of the moonlight
Silvery mists among shadowy trees
Sword in one hand, dagger in the other
You’ve been trying to get away in vain
I tracked you down here in this jungle
And I didn’t mind waiting
I didn’t mind / I didn’t mind waiting
And no need you try to run
I didn’t mind / I didn’t mind waiting
And now your time has come
You slipped away back in France
When I sent thirteen sinners up in flames
Climbed out a back window in Florence
And you barely escaped by boat in Spain
Now it’s just us two in this glade
I can see in your eyes that your will gave in
In the end, your Black Gods won’t save you
And I didn’t mind waiting
I have followed you as a wolf follows a deer
My blade glimmers in the moonlight
We both are weary, and the trail ends here
A final plunge, the smile on your lips dies
In the distance, I still hear the drums
I wipe your blood from my blade
I have ended what you’d begun
And I didn’t mind waiting.
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2. |
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In this blackest night, you pray to Crom
To grant you your bloody revenge
Let your arrows fly, your will is strong
Let your soul catch fire like heroes long gone
There’s a fury in your soul drives out all fear
You don’t know what’s coming, and you don’t care
So when the black moon rises and the monsters come
Your sword will sing its death song.
For in these jungles, you had found ancient ruins
With shining treasure, overflowing from a crypt
But those who stood guard poisoned your water
They drove you mad, and your crew was slaughtered
River Zarkheba, whose name means death
It will not be where you meet your end
And with your foes crushed beneath your heel
There is justice with cold, cold steel.
The battle has ended and you set the funeral pyre
It fades in the ocean,
As the gold and rose dawn splashes brighter…
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3. |
Landlocked
04:26
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Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me
I had everything a man could need
Gold in my pocket, a girl in every port
The fiddle would dance, we’d walk along the shore
Early to rise and I’d leave at daybreak
For a pirate can never stay with one maid
When the sand turns purple with the morning tide
I’d hear the seagulls’ song and ocean’s cry
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me
I’d watch the sunrise over the sea
Hoist the black flag as I’m slitting throats
Take whatever I want for my own
But me hearties have now all taken wives
And the dancing girls turned in for the night
No new horizons to sail toward
And they check your papers at every port
Yo ho, yo ho, a quiet life for me
I see the sunset through the trees
Now there is no patch or hat upon my brow
The fiddle gathers dust, my hands work the plow
I feel the ocean’s breeze and I remember
Swashbuckling days of high adventure
But when I go to bed at night I cannot sleep
I think there’s still some pirate left in me
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4. |
Phoenix on the Sword
06:28
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Statecraft and politics weary me so
More than my fighting days ever could
For I took the crown but did not mean to rule
Where my barbarian spirit does me no good
The poets sing songs against me
And corrupt the people with melodies
They worship old gods in their temples
And they talk of rebellion in the streets
Now my sword is useless
And none of my paths are straight
I miss the simple days of my youth
When my enemies would charge the gate
I sleep uneasy in my royal chambers
And now I hear footsteps outside in the hall
They thought I’d be asleep when they came here
Instead I hold my blade with my armor on
The old royals plot against me
And there’s twenty men strong to take my life
The guard’s paid off, I am unprotected
They raise their blades with a battle cry
Now my sword will end your hubris
All your well laid plans don’t mean a thing
Rush in and die, dogs
I was a man before I was king
In the desert, the wizard Thoth-Amon
Has the ring of the serpent god, Set
And with the blood of a prince and a talisman
He calls forth creatures from the depths
Dark forces rise against me
My blade is broken, my clothes are torn
From the grave, Epemitreus sent me
The Phoenix on the Sword
Now my sword has magic run through it
Crom laughs at your serpent ring
Rush in and die, dogs
I was a man before I was king
What do I know of cultured ways
The gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land
And bred in the open sky.
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile
They fail when the broadswords sing
Rush in and die, dogs
I was a man before I was a king.
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5. |
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It’s been so long with just the lamp in the corner
By now the shadows must be painted on
So I go shuffling out to my truck
Turn right out the driveway and head out alone
I put on my gray boots
And stomp my feet on the ground
I play my gray guitar
When the blues come around.
And tonight, the blues came around.
This guitar I’ve loved since I was nineteen
All shades of gray and silvery moons
And I’ve carried it around for seventeen years
Playing for mostly empty rooms.
Now it’s late and I’ve got work in the morning
And I’m tired of all these Boomers here
And it’s been years since I gave up on drinking
So I’ve only been nursing one beer
I hail the waitress and pay my tab
Slip out the back between songs
Next week I probably won’t be back
Cause I’d rather stay at home
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Jim Arkus Trenton, New Jersey
All the power, exhaustion, evil, and even black magic of the blues, played on the five string banjo, guitar, and the mountain dulcimer.
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