TITLE:
Ledger of Ash

STYLE:
Nordic Viking metal fused with hip-hop, drop-D down-tuned heavy guitars, pounding war drums, tagelharpa and bone flute, deep throat-singing drones, cinematic strings, male baritone half-rap lead, female contralto lead, massive mixed choir, gang shouts, anthemic, epic, modern heavy production, clear intelligible English vocals, 92 BPM, tight hip-hop metal groove, boom-bap drums layered with war toms, staccato riff

EXCLUDE STYLES:
autotune, EDM drop, lo-fi, comedy, spoken-word only, children's choir, country, reggae

LYRICS:
[Intro - pages turning, pen scratching, a single war drum, instrumental]

[Verse 1 - male baritone rap, precise and punchy, head-nod groove]
Line one, a harbor, burned to the stone,
Line two, a village, now owned on a loan.
Line three, a bridge that they sold us to fix,
Line four, the same bridge, they are breaking it twice.
Every column balanced, every total clean,
The profit on the funeral is the prettiest thing I've seen.
They keep a book for battles like a farmer keeps for grain,
And every season's harvest is a harvest made of pain.

[Pre-Chorus - female contralto, cool and precise, pizzicato strings]
Read it back.
Read it slow.
Every number
Had a name to know.

[Chorus - full band, choir, gang vocals, stomping]
Ledger of ash!
Open the book!
Ledger of ash!
Look what they took!
Every coin a candle that a family never lit.
Ledger of ash, we are done with it!

[Verse 2 - female contralto rap, then male and female trading bars]
I read the fine print by a broken lantern light,
Found the contract signed a month before the fight.
The order for the coffins came before the dead,
The medals were already cast, the speeches all were read.
Show it to the council, show it to the square,
Show it to the soldier, let him see what's written there.
A war that's paid in advance is not a war at all,
It's a purchase and a pantry and we're stacked along the wall.

[Chorus - full band, choir, bigger]
Ledger of ash!
Open the book!
Ledger of ash!
Look what they took!
Every coin a candle that a family never lit.
Ledger of ash, we are done with it!

[Breakdown - half-time, crushing riff, gang shouts on each word]
Close!
The!
Book!
Close the book on the merchant's war!

[Outro - tagelharpa and drum, female voice]
Every number had a name.