Latest effort. This was an attempt to use a battle from the Franco-Prussian War as an allegory that humanity has only one shot to succeed.
Fortunately, I have more than one song. Hope you enjoy.
I’ll see if I can figure out a way to distribute these easily.
One Shot
By John Wilder
Ninety-one days from Sedan…
The Prussian lines stood silent in the mist
One order rang out: “Charge!”
One heartbeat… one charge… one shot at glory.
From cave to plow, from fire to steel
We clawed our way up history’s wheel
The coal is thin, the oil runs dry
The easy age has bled us dry
There is no second dawn, no second spring
The clock strikes once, then silence rings
All we built, all we bled
Hangs on the moment straight ahead
Chorus
One shot at glory – fire or fall!
One heartbeat roaring – answer the call!
Coiled like a spring, now is the spark
Live like a king or die in the dark
One shot! One shot!
Glory or the grave!
We are the sons of a billion years
Forged in the dust of vanquished fears
The stars don’t wait, the void won’t bend
This is the charge – this is the end
No retreat, no slow decay
The guns are loaded, the skies are gray
Fix bayonets, bare your teeth
Immortal or dead in the smoke beneath
Chorus
One shot at glory – fire or fall!
One heartbeat roaring – answer the call!
Coiled like a spring, now is the spark
Live like a king or die in the dark
One shot! One shot!
Glory or the grave!
Hear the drums of Mars ascending
Iron boots on iron ground
Every empire, every life
Comes down to this single sound
Forward!
No tomorrow if we fail tonight
Forward!
Into the breach, into the light!
One shot at glory – seize or be slain!
One war-cry thundering through every vein!
The moment is here, the die is cast
Take control of the sky or be dust of the past
One shot! One shot!
Glory or the grave!
One shot! One shot!
This is the day we break the chains!
Charge… for glory… and the universe
Will be ours . . .
John – – Except for the overwhelming victory of the French at Gravelotte (due West of Metz), Napoleon 3rd’s forces got rolled royally by the Prussians in that war……. one could even say: Kaiser Rolled…
Thus, I take it the elan your song pushes must be German.
Not saying that the French military of today is a pushover, nor that their regimental songs lack enthusiasm.
Just sayin’ ….. Germans marching whilst singing does not predict tranquillity in Europe.
It never has.
No marching army has ever been a predictor of tranquility.
Remember, we’re only a few generations into the idea that armies should carry their own food with them.
So, I picked the Prussians for a reason. The French had a very significant advantage in their rifles, they shot a smaller bullet at higher velocity, so the Prussians effectively had to cover 200(?) yards where they could not fight back and the French could fire with impunity. Likewise, the French had the mitrailleuse which was an early machine gun like, which greatly impressed the Prussians and (my guess) led directly to the machine gun squads that made up their infantry until, what, the 1950s? It took bravery.
Also – tranquility? That’s not the goal of life.
Tranquility is easy, but significance is hard.
I could write a whole post on this one topic alone . . . 🙂
And the battle (91 days after Sedan) was the Battle of Loigny-Poupy, and yup, a Prussian victory.
That’s a fairly bad-ass piece of music there. The drum sounds and tempo reminded me of Rammstein, whom I’m a fan. I’m assuming that’s AI generated/fabricated somehow. Would like to be wrong and that you actually recorded it yourself with you and your gang playing all the instruments/vocals in-house.
Thanks – partially. Lyrics and intent are mine, but Suno does the heavy lifting on creating the guitar work. My singing is . . . not good. My guitar work is much better, but that’s not saying a lot.
Figure out distribution, i need this one on my workout playlist. Awesome!
YES, MAKE THEM DOWNLOADABLE. DISTRIBUTION, AS SEVERAL HERE HAVE SAID ! Great work, sir!