1. |
Viking Dreams
04:06
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Viking Dreams (March 1, 2022)
We watched Kirk Douglas walk the oars, returning from his Viking wars
The dreaded falcon high up soars…..it fired our imagination
Sidney Portier, darkest Moor, his golden bell, the timeless lure
Richard Widmark’s story, pure….The Long Ship’s fascination
Rolf and Orm and Janet Leigh
Ernest Borgnine, Tony C
The Mare of Steel, the raging sea
These formed my Viking dreams.
In 1960 black and white, on our TV we watched them fight
At six p.m. on Friday night…Our play set for the week
The broadswords clanked, the arrows flew…the passion in their faces grew
A violent time, but still I knew…more of this I would seek
Swords and shields and flaxen tresses
A warrior under oath confesses
Pride in what the sea possesses
These formed my Viking dreams.
I knew one day that I would have to see the ship museum in Oslo
A dream deferred until I finally found the money and time to go
I stood enraptured as time like glue moved on but ever slow
And far from disappointing me the wonder seemed to grow
So tonight I’ll lay my head down soft, my pillow calling me
Imagining a hillside croft, with a view down to the sea
And in the fjord far below, my Viking ship is waiting
To carry me on my Viking dreams, they’ll be no hesitating
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3. |
Hyperborean Winds
04:05
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Hyperborean Winds (February 9, 2022)
(Spoken): “Never the Muse is absent from their ways: lyres clash and flutes cry, and everywhere maiden choruses whirling…Neither disease nor bitter old age is mixed in their sacred blood; far from labor and battle they live”
Thus spake Pindar, 500 years before the Christ, of the Hyperborean tales
Herodotus and Homer also sang of this northern land beyond the whales
The mythic land of ice and fire, a thousand years before Viking sails
Captured Arild in its sway, in Norway’s fjords, frosts, and gales
Manfred Eicher set the stage, and booked the Rainbow first
So all would have the best in sound, and none would have the worst
In December 1996 the Oslo charts were all dispersed
Their liquid languid sound locked in, an alchemy well versed
Hyperborean winds, take me past all of what is known, and most of what is suspected
Away from this temporal place, to an ancient era by time neglected
Where myths and legends sweep the ice, and blow away all by cold affected
And bass, and sax, and sacred strings are blended…purified…perfected
Arild Andersen plucked his bass, his ostinato notes ran on ahead
Two saxophonists channeled wind, with their reeds they laid the sonic bed
Crystalline keys collided, but never moved the needle into red
While the strings and percussive wash sewed tight the pulsing common thread
(repeat Spoken intro; fini)
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4. |
The Berserker's Lament
04:30
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The Berserker’s Lament (March 3, 2022)
I strike like a bolt of lightning, slash like a raging fire
My countenance, ever frightening…from the fight I never tire
If you say that I’m berserk, well, you’ve got that one right
It’s all in a good day’s work, since what I do is fight
Chorus: Thor and Odin, hear my cry….life down here has passed me by
The Christ is born, so I must die…send Valkyries from the sky
Freya set my funeral feast….my slayer journeys from the East
His strength is like an untamed beast…to Valhalla I must be released
Loki tricked me at my birth, my father’s sword, my treasure
My savagery defined my worth…by my own chieftain’s measure
In every battle I stood fast, shirtless, howling loud
First in the fray, and last one out, each victory made us proud. (Chorus)
Bridge: The talk is now of peace and love, and shepherds hearing voices
What place is there for a man like me, in a world with these new choices?
The kirk is full of passive sheep, the vicar now rejoices
My head still filled with fury and my ears with savage noises
The rough beast rides from Bethlehem, believers multiplying
My life is poisonous to them, my presence more than trying
Negotiation rules these days, my axe has gone to rust
I cannot now adopt new ways, so take me now, you must! (Chorus; fini)
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5. |
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My Lamp Trimmed Low (Iceland Winter) (March 5, 2022)
As autumn fades, and winter calls…My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
The Iceland darkness early falls….My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
The seasons seem to race on by… My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
They won’t be slowed, yet still I try….My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
As I grow old, and slack my pace…My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
The winter’s chill I must embrace…My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
Br #1: The peat is stoked, but burns not bright; it dampers down at fall of night
The Iceland sun’s a shuttered light…It’s coldly trimmed, yet burning
Old battles flood my memory…My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
I’m caught in violent reverie…My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
The sagas whisper rhymes to me…My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
They remind me of our history…My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
As snowfall hides the grasses blades…My lamp trimmed low, my lamp trimmed low
The memory of the autumn fades….My lamp trimmed low, yet burning
Br. #2 My hands are cold and lacking touch; I barely now can grip my crutch
They seek my hearth’s flame, and as such…I keep it trimmed, yet burning
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7. |
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The Martyrdom of St. Magnus (March 2, 2022; DADGAD)
Magnus and Hakon were cousins, both sired by noble lords
They grew up with power and privilege, as such a life affords
They ruled a kingdom divided, an Orkney with two Earls
And as is common in such times, the flag of war unfurls.
Nine years of peace were thrown away, and warlords tramped each road
Rape and ruin, theft and fire, it all had been foretold
The blood and waste grew sickening, the chieftains cried “no more!”
A peace must come, these islands cannot thrive while there is war.
The talks would be on Egilsay, a neutral, barren isle, each Earl with two ships
A journey easy, across calm seas with gentle winds, and lacking tidal rips
But as Magnus crossed with his two ships, a giant wave appeared
And in this wave he saw an omen of his fate as toward his ship it neared
Then when his unarmed vessels reached the shore, he went to kneed and pray
At the humble Kirk on Egilsay, since it now was Easter Day.
On Easter Monday the next morn, the eastern glow revealed
The Earl Hakon, with eight armed ships, and the fate of Magnus sealed
The chieftains were now tired of words, there would be no more talk
From Egilsay this crimson day only one Earl would walk.
(Strum and hold chords)
The sagas tell how Magnus blessed the man who did his slaughter
He breathed his last on Egilsay, leaving neither son nor daughter
Hakon buried him where he fell, upon the barren hillside
The peace secured, ten ships departed neatly on the tide
But then wondrous things presented, after the martyr’s death, his brown grave turned verdant green
And when buried again on Birsay, they say a mystic evening light was seen
Not a generation later, the Orkney bishop did decree
The slain Earl was now St. Magnus, whose blood was offered free
His cathedral now in Kirkwall still holds his shattered bones
A relic, timeless, but made of time, for Orkney sin atones
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8. |
Valhalla Calling
04:29
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Valhalla Calling (March 9, 2022)
(Chant)
Valhalla calling, and the time is nigh
Bodies falling while the widows cry
Valkyries coming from the skies on high
Valhalla calling, now it’s time to die!
Asgard’s busy with the coming feast
The honor banquet for today’s deceased
We’ll come in order from the best to least
Asgard’s calling for the just released.
You can take your Christian offerings and throw them in the sea
Your Jesus on his bloody cross won’t do a thing for me
My soul is lost, as you’re concerned, by biblical decree
Hand me a weapon I can use if you want to set me free.
Valhalla calling, I keep my sword in hand
With my shield held strong I need to take my stand
When I’m killed in battle I know where I’ll land
In a crimson glory as the gods demand.
Valhalla calling, no time to make amends
Death surrounds me as I lose my friends
Born to fate, I never follow trends
In Asgard’s hall the fallen warrior mends
A Viking welcomes violent death as he seeks to be free
To sit with Thor and Odin feasting, drinking endlessly
I make a choice to choose this ending fully consciously
Your Christian heaven has no room for heathens such as me.
Thor and Freya wager on the fight
Odin heals me, makes me whole and right
I’ll be gone from this earth by the morning’s light
So fix me a place at the table tonight.
Valhalla calling, as I lose my blood
Companions dying in the shit and mud
The coming storm will bring a crimson flood
Valhalla calling, as I lose my blood!
Valhalla calling, and the time is nigh
Bodies falling while the widows cry
Valkyries coming from the skies on high
Valhalla calling, now it’s time to die!
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9. |
New Found Land
04:11
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New Found Land (March 9, 2022)
I say, to you, please sail to our new Vinland
Then south, we’ll go, away from Skraeling eyes
With pastures green, and vines with grape are heavy
Come join, us in, this verdant new found land.
The west wind blows, it fills unfurled sails
The stars shine brightly in the clear night sky
I know you long to claim your family homestead
And when you make this voyage, the saga sings your name!
Sail west, and join me, in this new found land
In Iceland, soon, the trees will all be gone
And Greenland is still anything but green
Vinland’s trees can be felled for just a song
And freedom from Norwegian kings in lands as yet unseen
Then wind is kind, and speeds the journey westward
Our huddled sheep will find the passage fair
The price is right, and what’s the price of freedom?
The will be no Earls or Chieftains to tax our riches earned
Sail west, and join me, in this new found land
You have your wanderlust….I’m someone you can trust….say goodbye to your old home
…and welcome your new brother (riff)
So meet, me soon, in Erik’s crowded harbor
We’ll fill our crew, with friends who live to sail
Our future kin will praise our bold decisions
As you and I will settle, in our new found land
We’ll plant our flag, for future generations
The skalds, will sing, about our daring ways
Our names will ring throughout the song of ages
And every day the dawn will push the night away
Sail west, and join me, in this new found land
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10. |
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A Different Kind of Ocean (March 7, 2022)
We’d float a rub-a-dub ducky, when we went with Leif the Lucky — we sailed a different kind of ocean back then
You’d be Rolf, and I’d be Orm, and we’d cruise right through the storm
But we sailed a different kind of ocean back then
On our porch we’d row our ship as we embarked on a new trip
But we sailed a different kind of ocean back then
I made my sword, you made my shield, to the foe we’d never yield
But we sailed a different kind of ocean back then
Turning on the tube screen….finding the channels in between….
Always looking for the Vikings adventurous schemes
Reading books about warfare, when I hurt you we’d both swear
And we sailed by the sun and the stars even in our kid dreams
Our rope-a-dope rhymes, served in light-hearted times - but we sail a different kind of ocean these days
We both grew up, then we grew old, our real lives were not so bold
And we sail a different kind of ocean these days.
Now at our flat screens we stare, the adventure isn’t there
And we sail a different kind of ocean these days
Our computers are no match for the kinds of games we’d hatch
And we sail a different kind of ocean these days
We flew to Iceland together…laughed in the face of the weather
I’d go back in a heartbeat with you without even a doubt
Hand my credit card over, and we’ll be back in the clover
Keep our drinking horns filled, and “skol!” we will shout… (Repeat first verse; fini)
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jimeddy Ann Arbor, Michigan
I no longer trade time for money, so I'm a lucky guy. Songwriter, music collector (at a pathological level); supporter of independent artists of all stripes. Open mic enthusiast, international traveler every chance I get. Forward in All Directions!
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