don't say it through the ages

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Lyrics

[Intro - Bodhran stomp, fiddle builds in]

[Verse 1 - Male Lead, Baritone]
Gather 'round, ye students of the chronicles of man
There's a lesson in the ledger since the ledger first began
Every empire, every admiral, every fool who wore a crown
Said a word above the table, and the die came tumbling down

[Pre-Chorus - Building]
The die came up, the die came low
The whole damn world watched it go

[Chorus - Full group, stomping]
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages
Don't say it, don't say it, it's written on the pages
The words will curse the wood, the wood will curse the roll
And the die will take your kingdom, and the die will take your soul
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages

[Verse 2 - Male Lead - Troy]
Priam saw the wooden horse a-standing at his gate
Said "the Greeks have sailed for home, and we have celebrated late"
Said "bring the gift inside the walls, pour the wine and sing —
There's nothing left to fear tonight, no Greek, no spear, no —"
Well the belly of the horse cracked wide, and history did the rest
And Troy went down in firelight for the words he should've pressed

[Pre-Chorus]
The die came up, the die came low
The whole damn world watched it go

[Chorus]
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages
Don't say it, don't say it, it's written on the pages
The words will curse the wood, the wood will curse the roll
And the die will take your kingdom, and the die will take your soul
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages

[Verse 3 - Male Lead - Waterloo]
Bonaparte stood on the ridge with a hundred thousand spears
He'd whipped the kings of Europe and he'd conquered through the years
Said "the Prussians will not make it, and the British line will break —
There is nothing on this muddy field that I cannot —"
Well Blücher came a-marching and the Old Guard turned to run
And the sun went down on empire for a word beneath the gun

[Pre-Chorus]
The die came up, the die came low
The whole damn world watched it go

[Chorus]
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages
Don't say it, don't say it, it's written on the pages
The words will curse the wood, the wood will curse the roll
And the die will take your kingdom, and the die will take your soul
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages

[Bridge - Slower, reverent, sparse instrumentation - Titanic]
Now the ship was made of iron and her keel was made of pride
Forty-six thousand tons of steel and a ballroom four decks wide
The builder raised a glass of champagne high into the air
Said "God himself could not send her down, no berg, no squall, no prayer"
The band was playing ragtime when the lookout gave the call
And the stars above the Atlantic watched the greatest of them fall
Fifteen hundred souls went quiet to the cold and waiting deep
For a word spoke in a shipyard that the sea had sworn to keep

[Verse 4 - Male Lead, ominous - Custer]
Custer at the Rosebud River told the papers with a grin
"There ain't enough of Sitting Bull's to whip the Seventh in"
Rode up to the Little Bighorn with his sabers and his pride
Two hundred twenty cavalry and nowhere left to hide
And the hills came down around him like a judgment long foretold
For the words he gave the newsmen were the words that bought his gold

[Pre-Chorus - held, tension]
The die came up, the die came slow
The whole damn world watched it go

[Chorus]
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages
Don't say it, don't say it, it's written on the pages
The words will curse the wood, the wood will curse the roll
And the die will take your kingdom, and the die will take your soul
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages

[Verse 5 - Male Lead, lighter, almost cheeky - New Coke]
Now ye'd think that after Troy and Moscow, Belfast and the Horn
That the sons of man would learn the word their fathers' fathers mourned
But an ad man in Atlanta in the summer of eighty-five
Looked at ninety-nine years of cola and he said "it's time to thrive —
The new formula is perfect, and the focus groups agree —
There is nothing that could possibly go wrong with —"

[Break - All instruments cut, single fiddle note held]

[Chorus - Full force, fastest yet, shouted]
DON'T SAY IT, don't say it, don't say it through the ages
DON'T SAY IT, don't say it, it's written on the pages
The words will curse the wood, the wood will curse the roll
And the die will take your kingdom, and the die will take your soul
Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it through the ages

[Outro - Stomping fade, group vocal]
Don't say it through the ages
Don't say it through the ages
Don't say it through the ages
Don't say it through the ages

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