Freebie Fridays: Distant Whispers

While I was working on the final trilogy in the Celestial Serenade (Soul of the Sun), my characters pulled a fast one on me. They attended a heavy metal opera – because that should be a real thing, you guys. And afterward, they talked with the actors about the show. One song became particularly important during the course of the discussion. It was called Distant Whispers and one of the characters admitted that it was vaguely based on Oracle Visions.

As soon as my characters started this conversation I realized, with some dismay, that I was going to have to actually write the song if they were going to quote specifics about the lyrics.

Writing this song took two weeks and taught me that I’m really not good at writing songs. But I’m still pretty proud of the results!
. . .

Forum Post 5646645243
User: Mordred
Timestamp: April 3, 16:42 (Galactic Standard)

As promised, here are the lyrics for Distant Whispers as written by Remerin “Remmy” Isrical and Gaia “GeeGee” Larath. Please note, these are the lyrics as the song was originally performed. Before they added the extra verse.

-M

In days of old we occupied
A single, isolated rock
(Oh! But she was ours!)
And from our towers of glass and steel
We easily denied
The doom that lurked beyond our lands
(May you never feel such dread)
Yet when the dragon came
Breathing death
The stars became our haven
Until a message crossed the Great Divide
With a plea to draw us back
(Fate wore an ancient face)
But what waited in the great beast’s belly
No soul could ever guess

(Chorus:)
Oh! The first world may have ended in ash
(Could it happen again?)
But dragons rise from ruins
Just as the phoenix is born from flame
And while the stars continue their dances
Uncaring of our games
The heart from whence the warrior came
May one day call him home again
Who knows what the future holds?
Oh! The Oracles have their visions
(Aye!)
But they are only distant whispers
(Distant Whispers)

When war first came upon our lands
The War God sent us a protector
(Glorious Litaio)
And Oh! How we mourned the day
He fell to enemy hands
We didn’t know he slept deep within the dragon
Unaware of what he did
(A terrible pain to bear!)
He woke only when his beloved called his name
And resumed his old command
Beneath the warrior’s banner
Peace was soon within our grasp
And he pledged he would protect us
For as long as he drew breath
(Oh! But he was ours!)

(Chorus:)
Though the first world did not end in ash
(Could it happen still?)
Ancient dragons rise from ruins
Just as the phoenix is born from flame
And while the stars continue their dances
Uncaring of our games
The heart from whence the warrior came
Will one day call him home again
Who knows what the future yet holds?
Oh! The Oracles have their visions
(Aye!)
But they are only distant whispers
(Distant Whispers)
(Distant Whispers)

(Instrumental)

For generations we’ve relied upon this asset
And never has he faltered
When we reached beyond our means
He proved the error of our mindset
(A difficult task, to be sure!)
And the policies he built guide us still today
When AIs pierced the veil from the void beyond
(A darkness deeper than we know)
He raced against all odds to rebuff the rising tide
He risked his life to do it
So we mustn’t ‘ere forget
His presence enhances our empire even as he sleeps
(He is ours! Oh! Ours forever!)
And were we to call on him today
He would appear without delay

(Chorus:)
Oh! The first world may yet end in ash
(Does the threat never actually end?)
But dragons rise from ruins
Just as the phoenix is born from flame
And though the stars continue their dances eternal
Uncaring of our games
The heart from whence the warrior came
Will surely call him home again
Who ever truly knows what the future holds?
Oh! The Oracles have their visions
(Aye!)
But they are only distant whispers
(Distant Whispers)
(Distant Whispers)
(Distant Whispers)

Yes the Oracles maintain their visions
But they are ever distant whispers
(Distant Whispers)