Posts Tagged ‘Heathenry’

Heathen’s Lament

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Last Sunday, I was working around 3 PM, delivering food, when a bolt of inspiration struck me.  I heard a melody in my head and I couldn’t get it out, but I knew if I didn’t do something I’d forget it eventually.  I’ve lost so many ideas that way.  So, I wrote down the first half of the first verse of what would become a new song in less than 24 hours’ time.

“And we march on through the frigid night,
In the shadow of our forefathers,
We brave the Winter’s might.”

I didn’t know if I would keep these at the time, or where the song would go from there, but it was enough so I remembered the melody.  When I got home at midnight, I picked up my acoustic and fired up the drum program, and out came this song.

Heathen’s Lament
by Matt Frost, February 2010

And we march on through the frigid night,
In the shadow of our forefathers,
We brave the Winter’s might
Soldiering across this barren lane
To where we’ll join out kin
And resist the invading warriors of
Christendom, who’re threatening
To destroy our very way of life

Lay siege to the cross
Don’t let them gain upon your ground
Fight to defend our clan
Cut every last one of them down-
Before they kill us all,
And put our women and children
To their swords and burning stakes
And raze our temples and destroy
Our lore, our tales of old
Traditions handed down for eons
From the bards, we were told
We must not let this be our fate 

The next day, after mixing Not While I Draw Breath, Jay and I hammered out Heathen’s Lament in about six hours.  While lyrically, this sounds like a gung-ho fight song, it’s intended to be a reflection on the history of what happened centuries ago, how vigorously our pre-Christian ancestors fought, and yet could not stem the spread of Christianity.  At best, Christianity absorbed some of the heathen customs, holidays, and traditions, at worst, people were killed and the beliefs of our ancestors were stomped out.  This song is written from the perspective of those who are marching off to fight to preserve their traditions, their culture, and their gods, who saw Christianity as a threat to their way of life and were willing to do whatever they had to do to stop it.  Ultimately, they failed, and were either assimilated into Christendom, killed, or driven far from their ancestral homes and land.

Now that we live in a time of relative safety, we do battle mostly with words and images.  We don’t go at each other with swords and axes, or guns for that matter.  Instead, we mostly trade verbal slights and barbs.  Non-Christians are subject to proselytizing by fervent believers, but that’s nothing new.  We’ve learned to deal with that.  However, there may be a time when the strife will become physical- maybe not- but the question remains, will we allow history to repeat itself?  It probably won’t even be Christianity that threatens this time.  Christians in Europe don’t seem to be willing to stand up to Islamists anymore and there aren’t enough Heathens to fight this battle.  Even speaking out against Islam in Europe can be considered a hate crime, just ask Geert Wilders.  So, basically, the song is saying, keep your swords sharp, your wits about you, and be prepared for anything.  You never know when you may have to really fight for what you truly believe in.  I sincerely hope and wish for peace and understanding between Christians, Muslims, and those of us who don’t follow any of the Middle Eastern Abrahamic faiths, but I still don’t think we’ve quite reached that level of ecumenicism.

And of course, enjoy the song.  For all the layered meanings in the words, it’s a catchy number that’ll have you toe-tapping and singing along.

~Matti Frost

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