Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - Iron Maiden
Another Iron Maiden, 'cause I can't find any other I feel like putting up. This song is 13 minutes of kick ass!

Hear the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eyes as he stops one of three
Mesmerizes one of the weeding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea

And the music plays on as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and the Mariner tells his tale

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow-fog flies on the Albatross
Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings

And the ship sails on, back to the north
Through the fog and ice and the Albatross follows on

The Mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he has done
But when the fog clears they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime

Sailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North 'til all is calm

The Albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse, a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck the dead bird is hung

And the curse goes on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and me

"Day after day, day after day, we stuck nor breath nor motion.
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.
Water, water everywhere, and all the boards did shrink.
Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."
[Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798-1834]

There calls the Mariner, there comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind in her sail and tide?

See...onward she comes
Onward she nears, out of the sun
See...she has no crew
She has no life, wait but there's two

Death and she Life in Death, they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her now
Then...the crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She...she Life in Death
She lets him live, her chosen one

[Narrative]
"One after one, by the star dogged moon, too quick for groan or sigh, each turned his face with a ghastly pang and cursed me with his eye. Four times fifty living men (and I heard nor sigh nor groan), with heavy thump, a lifeless lump, they dropped down one by one."

The curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished he die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he

And by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too

Then the spell starts to break
The Albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the RAIN!

Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir as they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes

And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on

Now the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
By their own light and the Mariner's left alone

And then a boat came sailing toward him
It was a joy he could not believe
The Pilot's boat, his son, and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto him

And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrieves the Mariner of his sins

The Mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on and on...
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