Story Behind The Song

A tale of the 'nameless' people who suffered in their communities during the reign of Henry VIII during the reformation. Life was hard and anybody who showed any allegiance to the Catholic faith faced persecution or worse. Ideal track for a historic production.

Lyrics

The market's thin, the harvest's late, the landlord wants his due
We trade our grain for whispered news of what the king will do
Another wife, another oath, another law to fear
We keep our voices soft enough so no one else can hear

The chapel doors are boarded now, the monks have fled the town
Icons buried in the fields so no one tracks them down
A neighbour swore the "old" prayer once and vanished in the night
We teach our children silence is the safest kind of right

(Chorus)
And the crown burns bright while we live in the ashes
Bending like the reeds when the royal thunder crashes
We bow our heads low, but our hearts stay our own
Kings change their gods, but we keep our souls

We gather in the barley barn when winter nights grow long
A candle shielded by a hand, a half-forbidden song
We barter hope for bread and keep our stories close and warm
For common folk survive the flood by weathering the storm

(Bridge)
I watched them take my closest friend for words he never meant
A slip of tongue, a prayer too old, a life the crown has spent
But still the dawn keeps rising on the fields we plough and sow
We've lived through worse than tyrant winds, and still the seeds will grow

(Chorus)
And the crown burns bright while we live in the ashes
Bending like the reeds when the royal thunder crashes
We bow our heads low, but our hearts stay our own
Kings change their gods, but we keep our souls

So here we stand, the nameless ones who outlast every throne
We mend our roofs, we tend our dead, we make the world our own
Let kings rewrite the heavens, let them tear the altars down
We'll still be here when time has worn the gold off every crown