Thursday Tunes: The Gates of Vienna

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…