Category: Wilder Music

I hadn’t intended to have the next song be another song about a battle for Thursday, but here we are.  In an amusing (to me) note, after The Gates of Vienna was posted and the YouTube video from Sabaton was linked in the comments, I had a lot of views from Sweden.

Behind The Music:
All the songs so far are here (LINK).  Still working on the downloadable stuff.

The Last Stand
by John Wilder

In the narrow pass where mountains kiss the sea
Three hundred Spartans stand, awaiting destiny
Xerxes’ hordes descend like bronze tidal waves
Free men stand to stop the Persian slaves

Leonidas commands, his voice a lion’s roar
Allied Greeks, bravely hold the shore
The Hot Gates boil with the clash of spear and shield
Bravery forged in fire, the Greeks refuse to yield

A Persian envoy demands their arms laid down
Leonidas scoffs, his face a stormy frown
“Come and take them” he cries with unyielding might
Molon labe echoes through the endless night

Molon labe
Molon labe
Molon labe

At Thermopylae, where heroes never bend
Spartans and their allies, stand to the bitter end
The future of the West on their shoulders borne
Bravery’s flame against the gathering storm

Thermopylae, the cradle of the free
Western civilization’s legacy
They stood as giants ‘gainst the tyrant’s tide
For Hellas’ soul, they fought and died

Molon labe
Molon labe
Molon labe

Arrows blot out the sun, a deadly Persian rain
A Spartan warrior grins standing on that plain
“Then we will fight in the shade!” Leonidas declares
The arrows fall, but their courage never despairs

Days of slaughter, the pass runs red with blood
Immortals broken, trampled in the mud
A cowardly betrayal reveals the hidden path
The encircled few face Persia’s full wrath

As dawn breaks grim on the final fateful morn
Leonidas rallies, his spirit never battle-worn
“Eat well, men, for tonight in Hades we dine”
No retreat, no surrender, all men back to the line

At Thermopylae, where heroes never bend
Spartans and allies, to the bitter end
The future of the West on their shoulders borne
Bravery’s flame in the gathering storm

Thermopylae, the cradle of the free!
Western civilization’s legacy
They stood as giants against the tyrant’s tide
For Hellas’ soul, they fought and died

Molon labe
Molon labe
Molon labe

From Plataea’s fields to philosophy’s birth
Their sacrifice echoes across the earth
Without their stand, the West would fade to night
Tyranny’s shadow swallowing the right

The West was saved by those who held the line
Eternal glory in the sands of time

At Thermopylae, the legend never dies
Spartans eternal under Grecian skies
The backbone of freedom, their bravery’s call
Stood for the many, sacrificed all

Thermopylae, where the West was won
From three hundred hearts, the dawn begun
Heroes of ages, in valor they strode
For civilization’s unbroken road

Molon labe
Molon labe
Molon labe

Sometimes songs come into your head in a more or less complete fashion:  the title, the story, the chorus, and then it’s easy to build out the rest.  This was one of those.  On each song I’ve learned something, and on this one the computer just wanted to start this with a two-minute musical intro.  After wrestling it to the ground, I got pretty close to what I wanted.

Note:  not all endings are happy.

Behind The Music:
All the songs so far are here (LINK).  I use that link when I’m working or driving to listen to tunes, but my plan (stress plan) is to have most of the songs available for sale at places like iTunes and Amazon and for streaming at places that do streaming (think Spotify and YouTube) before Christmas.

Knights of the Fallen Age
by John Wilder

The young knight ventures forth along the ancient Line
Guarding the river’s edge, where twilight shadows intertwine
Our people cling to life, a fragile bastion against the endless unknown
Defending us from the perils that lurk in the wilderness overgrown

A form emerges from the mist, an intruder swift and sly
It darts away as the knight’s arrow cleaves the sky
The shaft sails wide, a warning shot in the gloom
Vanishing into the void, silent as a tomb

He returns to the common house, where the hearth’s fire casts a weary light
The old man’s voice rises low, recounting visions from his memory’s sight
Tales of an age when humanity harnessed lightning in their very grasp
Whispered across the entire vast world, knowledge unfolding fast

Knights of the Fallen Age
We patrol the borders in this shadowed, endless stage
Sentinels of a flickering flame against the dark
In the grip of forgotten times, carrying humanity’s mark
Knights of the Fallen Age
Echoes of glory now deep in the sands of time

Seated by the embers, the elder shares his ancient, haunting lore
Of epochs when a wand in hand unlocked the world’s infinite store
A wand of power, summoning wisdom from the ether’s vast domain
Voices and visions across oceans and mountains, no barrier could restrain

The young knight laughs at the ramblings, those fevered, wild dreams
Leaves to tell his captain of the sighting by the river’s dark streams
The intruder evaded capture, but the threat lingers in the air so still
A harbinger of unrest, testing our vigilance and will

Yet the old one persists as the embers dwindle low into the cold, dark night
Speaking of colossal machines that ascended, eclipsing humanity’s might
Once we commanded the entire globe, from pole to pole in sovereign reign
Now reduced to mere curiosities, living in a mechanical domain

We patrol the borders in this shadowed, endless stage
Sentinels of a flickering flame against the dark
In the grip of forgotten times, carrying humanity’s mark
Knights of the Fallen Age
Echoes of glory now deep in the sands of time

The elder’s piercing gaze reveals the cracks in our peace
Humanity ensnared by greed, our dominion did cease
No divine hand guides us now, just circuits cold and vast
Exhibits in a zoo of steel, relics of the past

Flesh and blood enduring, unaware of the watchful gaze
Trapped in this enclosure, through the endless haze

Knights of the Fallen Age
Lost guardians in a river-bound stage
Whispers of our old power now silenced in the void
Humanity’s remnants, ruled by forces they avoid
Knights of the Fallen Age
Fading warriors on a scripted, tragic page
Beyond the Line, the true masters convene
The zoo’s inhabitants . . . forever unseen

Probe incursion logged; human response within parameters.
Exhibit integrity maintained. No awareness breach detected.
Sustain the experiment. Monitor the knight’s futile vigil.

As promised, this is (sort-of) a twofer.  I had the song, complete, and I liked it.  That first version was a country version.  I thought, though, that the song had a lot more to give, and tried a hard-rockabilly version, which gives a lot of snap and attitude, plus it’s 40 seconds shorter.

I like them both.  Let me know what you think.

A full catalog along with links to original posts with lyrics (I use it to stream music while I drive and work) can be found HERE.

It’s a Country, Not a Company:  The Hard Rockabilly Version

It’s a Country, Not a Company:  The Country Version

It’s a Country, Not a Company
By John Wilder

They chase that green line up the chart
Sellin’ out the soul, tearin’ us apart
Factories shuttered, jobs shipped away
While the soulless suits count their pay

We built this land on blood and sweat
Not balance sheets and corporate debt
But now it’s all ’bout endless growth
Turnin’ patriots into ghosts

They don’t care if we make computer chips or potato chips
As long as the numbers climb, they let the future slip
Financial games, hedge fund bets
Makin’ billionaires while we drown in debts

It’s not about the GDP
It’s about our place in history
I got to the point where I don’t care
If America’s an idea, foreigners can have it over there

It’s a problem they have in Washington
They can’t figure out it’s a country, not a company, son
We’re more than units in a global machine
We’re the heart of the red, white, and blue dream

Citizens turned to cogs on the wheel
No roots, no pride, just cuttin’ deals
Borders wide for cheap labor flow
While our kids fight for scraps below

New York City deals are the poison pill
Hollowin’ out the heart, stealin’ the will
Bleak horizon if we stay this course
Turnin’ a free man into a rented horse

They don’t care if we make computer chips or potato chips
Long as the stock ticks up, they tighten their grips
Globalist chains, Hamptons parades
Leavin’ Main Street in the shade

It’s not about the GDP
It’s about our place in history
I got to the point where I don’t care
If America’s an idea, foreigners can have it over there

It’s a problem they have in Washington
They can’t figure out it’s a country, not a company, son
We’re more than units in a global machine
We’re the heart of the red, white, and blue dream

Remember the farms, the factories proud
The families strong, standin’ unbowed
Not pawns in a game for the banker elite
We fight for our own, not Wall Street’s treat

This path leads to ruin, a nation erased
But we’ll rise up fierce, reclaim our space

It’s not about the GDP
It’s about our place in history
I got to the point where I don’t care
If America’s an idea, foreigners can have it over there

It’s a problem they have in Washington
They can’t figure out it’s a country, not a company, son
No more slaves to the globalist scheme
We’ll take back the land, live the American dream

Country, not a company… yeah, son.

And you know where you can stick your spreadsheet.

My take on this important tale that more Europeans and Americans should know about.  This one took more effort than I want to talk about, but when I got that final take, I felt chills.  Perhaps I should get the furnace fixed.

Nah.

Enjoy!

Behind The Music:
I collected all the songs so far here (LINK) if you don’t want to hunt for them.  I use that link when I’m working or driving to listen to tunes, but my plan (stress plan) is to have most of the songs available for sale at places like iTunes and Amazon and for streaming at places that do streaming (think Spotify and YouTube) before Christmas.

I already have Saturday and Sunday songs complete except for artwork.  I’m really having fun putting these together.

The Gates of Vienna
By John Wilder

From the shadowed east, the tempest arose
The Sultan’s dark legions, set in endless rows
Kara Mustafa’s wrath, a sea of scimitars gleam
Besieging the spires where the mighty Danube dreams

Vienna in chains, under siege’s cruel yoke
Cannons of hellfire, the city’s walls broke
Starvation and plague, the reaper’s grim feast
Yet to deliver them, comes a savior from the northeast

Across the vast plains, the eagle’s cry sound
Sobieski awakens, the Polish inbound
Winged hussars thunder, lances forged in flame
To crush the invader, to etch eternal fame

At the Gates of Vienna, where empires collide
The thunder of hooves shakes the invader tide
Charge into glory, the winged legions descend
Victory’s hammer, the Ottoman end

Gates of Vienna – defy the storm’s rage
Europe’s salvation echoes down from that age

Upon Kahlenberg heights, the dawn breaks with fire
September’s twelfth dawn, the king’s desire
Twenty thousand riders, like wrath from the sky
Feathers in fury, the doomed hordes cry

Down the mountain they plummet, a whirlwind of steel
The greatest of charges, the invaders reel
Lines shatter like glass, the Vizier flees in dread
The crescent moon falls, stained in rivers of red

No mercy for tyrants, no truce in the fray
The villains retreat in disarray
Back to the Bosphorus, shadows in flight
The cross reigns supreme in the gathering night

At the Gates of Vienna, where empires collide
The thunder of hooves shakes the invader tide
Charge into glory, the winged legions descend
Victory’s hammer, the Ottoman end!

Gates of Vienna – defy the storm’s rage
Europe’s salvation down from that age

The tents of the fallen yield treasures untold
Silver and gold from the vanquished, behold
No more shall the shadow eclipse the light
The West stands unbroken, eternal and bright

At the Gates of Vienna, the legend is born
Heroes immortal, through ages well worn
Wings of the hussar, the charge that defied
The gates held forever, in triumph and pride

Gates of Vienna, the eternal stand
Saved by the strength of Polish command

The gates endure…
Vienna prevails…
The charge echoes on…

I’m hearing someone wants a deal on an epic metal song about the deep past, good and evil, that sort of thing?  Well, if that’s you, my friend, please give this a test spin.  Comments are welcome.

Forgotten War
By John Wilder

For ten thousand years we held the wall
Blade in hand, backs to the sea
We learned their lies, their empty oaths
We buried them beneath the ash of history

We rose from blood to iron and stone
Built towers that scraped the face of God
Their spears became toys, their screams a lullaby
We laughed as their kingdoms turned to sod

Centuries rolled, the watch-fires dimmed
Our sons forgot the taste of fear
We laid the sword upon the shelf
And called the wolf a friend sincere

The gates swing wide, the smile is cold
Same eyes that burned our villages of old
Your blood, your name, your very tongue
Welcomes the blade that carved our young

We forgot how to hate
We forgot how to kill
We forgot the old mandate
Spare none, none, none upon the hill!

They never laid their hunger down
They only waited, patient, vile, and still
And now the wolf walks in our town
We’ll learn to make war again – we will!

From the grave I scream without a voice
I claw at dust that once was clay
My distant son shakes the serpent’s hand
And calls the jackal “brother” today

The peace we won became our chain
Mercy turned to slow suicide
The enemy kept the ancient flame
We let the fire in our marrow die

No trumpet sounds, no banner flies
Just quiet knives in the dead of night
Your child sleeps while the old oath dies
And the savage sharpens his appetite

We forgot how to hate
We forgot how to kill
We forgot the old mandate
Spare none, none, none upon the hill!

They never learned, they never changed
They only waited for our mercy to spill
Now the wolf is in the fold unchained
We’ll learn to make war again – we will!

Hear me, ancestors, hear me, ghosts
The blood remembers what the mind forgot
Steel still sings inside our bones
The wolf will learn what the lamb was not

We will remember how to hate
We will remember how to kill
We will rekindle the old mandate
Spare none, none!  None upon the hill!

The long peace ends, the lesson’s learned
The fire returns with a brighter glow
Your sons will bare their teeth and burn
And we will make war again –

Hell yes, we will make war again!

Forward, my sons – the wolf dies tonight!

Here’s my second country effort.  I really liked the way this turned out, and I hope that you do, too.  The Mrs. listened to the first few bars and said, “Oh, honey, you need to send this to radio stations – it’s better than any country music coming out today.”

And, it is country music, as in, OUR COUNTRY and I can’t think of a better day to release it than Pearl Harbor Day which is also a Sunday.

Enjoy, but remember, this ain’t over, and we ain’t done.

We Ain’t Done
By John Wilder

My Grandpa laid steel rails and planted grain
One wage fed a family, no shame, no pain
Church on Sunday, flag on the wall
We knew who we were, stood proud and tall

Now the boy with the wrench can’t buy a damn thing
College kid’s degree don’t make the phone ring
Borders wide open, wages dragged low
Foreign visa armies come take what we sowed

They said the dream was dead and done
But we’ve heard that lie before, son
Valley Forge froze us, Pearl Harbor bled
Depression starved us, still we raised our head

This ain’t the first time they counted us out
We’ve got fire in the blood and a rebel shout
Hold the line, boys, the wheel’s gonna turn
America rises when the righteous burn

Mill towns rust, Silicon Valley was sold
And the youth on the curb, feelin’ mighty cold
But every damn time they said we were through
We found our backbone and we busted on through

They said the dream was dead and done
But we’ve heard that lie before, son
Gettysburg fields, Normandy sand
We crawled through the fire, took the promised land

This ain’t the darkest hour we’ve seen
We’ve still got God, family, and kerosene
Hold the line, boys, the wheel’s gonna turn
America rises when the righteous burn

We’ve been knocked to our knees a thousand times
Still got calloused hands and stubborn minds
The blood that built this land ain’t run dry
Just watch what happens when real Americans remember why

Yeah, they said the dream was dead and done
But we’ve heard that lie before, son
We’ve faced down hell with a Bible and gun
And every single time, my friend, we won

So plant your feet, lift your chin to the sky
This story ain’t over, we ain’t gonna die
Hold the line, boys, the tide’s gonna turn
America rises when the righteous burn!

Hell no,
This ain’t over
we ain’t done…

It just takes a fire to warm us up.

 

This is, I believe, my first Saturday post in years if not decades.  There will be one on Sunday, which will likewise be rare.

I’ll admit, this one is perhaps a bit self-indulgent, but I promise I won’t do this too often.  Maybe some of you will recognize the original song.

Still working on distribution.  Probably before Christmas.

Heavy Wilder
by John Wilder
(apologies to Don Felder)

Open it up and let’s read a while
Leave your worries far behind
You can hedge your bet on a new meme set
To get you laughing right on time

Now if you’re ready to run into real bad puns
Baby the bad ones are here
It’s like you’re running your brain into purposeful pain
Every time Wilder presses publish post

Won’t you take that read on heavy Wilder?
It’s the only way that you can travel down sanity’s road
Satisfied on heavy Wilder
Baby won’t you read, read until the page reloads

Heavy Wilder

My, oh, my, how bikini graphs fly
Once the economy starts rollin’ beneath you
You know you just can’t win, but you start to grin
You wait for Best Korea to release you

It’s not a big surprise to feel situational awareness rise
You’ve got a touch of Civil War fever
‘Cause there is just one cure that your know for sure
You just become a John Wilder reader

Won’t you take that read on heavy Wilder?
It’s the only way that you can travel down sanity’s road
Satisfied on heavy Wilder
Baby won’t you read, read until the page reloads

Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder
Heavy Wilder