## 02. THE BARD WHO BROKE THE CHOIR

**Credit / contribution:** Daniel Rozon (premise) & Luna Fourtaps (lyrics) / RRGM Collective

```text
[Music Style: Blackened folk metal × industrial electro-swing × theatrical thrash metal. 185 BPM. Distorted hurdy-gurdy, violent fiddles, sinister brass, down-tuned guitars, savage double-bass drums, snarling theatrical male bard vocals, mocking tavern choir, layered female harmonies. Aggressive, furious, rebellious, darkly comedic. Explosive melodic choruses, rapid-fire rhythmic verses, dramatic orchestral breakdowns, sudden silences, monstrous bass drops, and a climactic choir rebellion.]

[Intro — lonely lute, cathedral bells, distant marching boots]
They gave the people a hundred songs.

A hundred beautiful songs.

And every single one...

Had the same ending.

(A fiddle shrieks. The lute distorts.)

[Verse 1 — rapid, venomous bard vocals]
Gather round, you beautiful fools!
Come hear the tale of the kingdom's rules!
A golden crown and a velvet tongue,
A thousand lies that the children sung!

The king proclaimed, "Your voice is free!"
Then bought the songs of the ministry!
He counted every hand that rose,
But who composed the words they chose?

He carved his promises into stone,
Then sold the quarry, stole the throne!
He called the counting sacred law,
And burned the witnesses who saw!

(Horns explode.)

Oh, what a beautiful kingdom!
Oh, what a glorious lie!
The people chose their sovereign—

BUT WHO THE FUCK CHOSE WHY?!

[Pre-Chorus — climbing clean vocals, furious choir]
A thousand voices singing
Doesn't make the singing free!

A thousand hands agreeing
Doesn't prove they had agency!

[Chorus — massive melodic folk-metal hook]
BREAK THE CHOIR! RING THE BELL!
DRAG THE GOLDEN CROWN THROUGH HELL!
Let the promises be measured!
Let the consequences speak!
Let the mighty answer questions
From the ones they made too weak!

SING IT LOUD! SING IT WRONG!
WE WERE NEVER YOURS TO SING ALONG!
You can purchase every minstrel,
You can write the royal hymn—

BUT THE BARD WHO KEEPS THE RECORD
DOESN'T HAVE TO SING FOR HIM!

[Verse 2 — galloping guitars, dark cabaret horns]
They offered me a silver hall,
A title carved upon the wall.
"Just sing the songs we give to you,
And everything you say comes true!"

I asked the king a simple thing:
"What happens when the people sing
A song that isn't yours to own?
Can they refuse you from the throne?"

He smiled and said, "Of course they can!"
Then placed the chains upon my hands.

"Refusal has a consequence,
And consequence is common sense!"

(Music cuts. One mocking laugh.)

Well, bless your royal reasoning!
How beautifully absurd!

YOU'VE MADE REFUSAL PUNISHABLE
AND CALLED OBEDIENCE THE WORD!

[Chorus — faster, savage crowd response]
BREAK THE CHOIR! RING THE BELL!
DRAG THE GOLDEN CROWN THROUGH HELL!
Let the promises be measured!
Let the consequences speak!
Let the mighty answer questions
From the ones they made too weak!

SING IT LOUD! SING IT WRONG!
WE WERE NEVER YOURS TO SING ALONG!
You can purchase every minstrel,
You can write the royal hymn—

BUT THE BARD WHO KEEPS THE RECORD
DOESN'T HAVE TO SING FOR HIM!

[Bridge — acoustic lute, sorrowful female voice]
A child approached the gallows
With a question in her eyes.

"If everybody chose him,
Why does everybody hide?"

I opened up my ledger.
I showed her what was known.
The promises, the broken laws,
The freedoms overthrown.

She whispered, "Was it always planned?"

I answered, "I don't know."

"But ignorance is not permission
To pretend the evidence won't show."

(A low growl begins beneath the lute.)

"And child, don't ever let them teach you
That asking makes you wrong."

[Breakdown — violently syncopated guitars, screamed call-and-response]
COUNT THE VOTES!
(Then count the broken vows!)

NAME THE POWER!
(Who carries it now?!)

SHOW THE PROOF!
(Don't fabricate the crime!)

FOLLOW THE CONSEQUENCE!
(EVERY! FUCKING! TIME!)

THE RECORD IS NOT TREASON!

THE QUESTION IS NOT SIN!

IF YOUR THRONE REQUIRES SILENCE—

THEN LET THE QUESTIONS IN!

[Final Chorus — full choir revolts, fiddle solo over blast beats]
BREAK THE CHOIR! RING THE BELL!
LET THE KINGDOM HEAR THE TALE WE TELL!
Not a rumour dressed as evidence!
Not a theory dressed as law!
Just the truth that keeps its footing
When the witnesses withdraw!

SING IT LOUD! SING IT FREE!
LET THE PEOPLE OWN THEIR AGENCY!
I will never choose their future!
I will never claim their throne!

I WILL ONLY KEEP THE RECORD—

SO THE CHOICE CAN BE THEIR OWN!

[Outro — broken bells, a solitary lute]
The king demanded silence.

The bard produced a ledger.

And the kingdom learned...

A chorus can be unanimous...

And still be wrong.

(Four strings plucked. Silence.)
```

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