Battle Hymns (1982)

Death Tone

Ridin' on two wheels
Chains hooked on my heels
Sittin' on leather
Ridin' on steel

Put my shades on
Hair blows in the wind
I give some square the finger
Now he won't look again, no he won't

Now, you were sittin' home
And I got sent to Nam
I went to the big house
You just worked at job

Hear me calling can't you hear my death tone
Hear me calling can't you hear my death tone
Hear me ride on into the night pull along side
If you're looking for a fight

My social worker's got me on a chain
Keeps me out of jail so the paper prints his name
Yes it does, and he likes it

Unemployment checks run out next week
It won't be very long 'til I'm back on the streets again

Metal Daze

I hear the sound in a metal way
I feel the power rolling on the stage
'Cause only one thing really sets me free
Heavy metal, loud as it can be

Baby I was born to play music
I am a man with a screaming guitar
There's a light in a middle of the stage
And in a minute I'll be wearing it all
I don't know another way of living
Man I couldn't really care
Give me a pair of jeans and a riff that's mean
And girls that love to share

Heavy metal, metal daze
Heavy metal, heavy metal daze
Heavy metal, heavy metal daze

Living like there's no tomorrow
Yeah Currie says we're on the edge
He said man you're really graffic
This bands a social wedge
Yeah we all got hearts made of metal
And our blood is hot molten rock
And If I don't hear the sound of metal
I go into shock

So mister D. J. play just one for me
You know the one with the crashin' and the screams
'Cause only one thing really sets me free
Heavy metal loud as it can be

Fast Taker

Mama is having problems
always comes to me
Your daddy's been a drinker since 1943
They tell you I'm a loser
'Cause I like bein free
But truth is in the mirror
It's what they never see

I sing Yeah
Long time ago
You tried to tell me, son
keep our daughter home
I said no no, no no

Now, I don't mind them saying
That you should be praying
For me, fast taker
Right here's where I'm staying
Life's a game I play
For keeps, fast taker, bed breaker, love maker
Take it away

Only sixteen
a woman not a girl
Old enough
For a trip around the world
Pick you up on Friday
When daddy goes to sleep
Bring you back on Sunday
When he's watching "Billy Graham" on T.V.

Oh yeah, he won't see me

Now do it right with music
Then you learn how to use it
All night, fast taker
Right here's where I'm staying
Life's a game I play
For keeps, fast taker, bed breaker, love maker
Take it away

Shell Shock

I don't know
Well there's no charge for the haircut
And the bullets come free
My Uncle Sam sent a letter, said:
He's got a mission for me

Now I'm a ranger, not a stranger
And I live in Saigon
We've got a team of special forces
And we deliver napalm

But if they tell you that I've lost my mind
Maybe it's not gone just a little hard to find
About the time this letter gets home
I'll be gone, gone, yeah gone

And if they tell you that I'm M.I.A.
Think a little less about me each day
'Cause if I ever get back
I'll be shell shocked

Feels funny riding in my car
Used to drive a tank and shoot a B.A.R.
I know I'm home
But I feel gone,gone, yeah gone

Now it's over and the homeland's safe
Got a purple heart to show the world I'm brave
The businessmen sat home
Well I got shell shocked

Manowar

We met on English ground
in a backstage room
We heard the sound
And we all knew what we had to do

We called the high command
Requested leave to make a stand
And in the field we grew
And we all knew

Soon the time would come
For us to fight,
Destination
now in sight

Oooh, Manowar
Born to live forever more
The right to conquer every shore
Hold your ground and give no more

Our fight will never end
So we called on partisans
To raise your hands
And take our stand

Look sharp
when duty calls
Where we march
cities fall
And the strong survive
And take our side

Dark Avenger

He broke the laws of the elders
So they plucked out his eye,
Took his land and fortune,
Left him to die

Bound on the shoreline,
Left for the tide,
See's his life blood leaving...
Circling lower the vultures fly

These bones may be broken
But the spirit can't die
And the Gods see his anguish
And give him a sign

From the floor of the ocean
The ship of the lost souls rise
And they take him where no one sleeps
while the undead cry
Where no one sleeps while the undead cry

And in the world above
The elders sing,
On his land they live
Let death's bell ring

He was met at the gate of Hades
By the Guardian of the Lost Souls,
The Keeper of the Unavenged
And He did say to him:
"Let you not pass abandon return to the world from once you came
And seek payment not only for thy known anguish
But vindicate the souls of the Unavenged"

And they placed in his hands a sword made for him called Vengeance
Forged in brimstone and tempered by the woeful tears of the Unavenged

And to carry him up on his journey back to the upper world
They brought forth their Demon horse called Black Death
A grim steed so fiercely might and black in colour
That he could stand as one with the darkness
Save from his burning eyes of crimson fire

And on that night they rode up from Hell
The pounding of his hooves did clap like thunder

Burning, death, destruction raping the daughters and wives
In blood I take my payment in full with their lives

No one can escape me on Black Death I ride
When kissed by the sword of Vengeance
Your head lays there by your side
I take the lives of all that I once knew
The torn flesh of a slow death waits for you

Burning, death, destruction raping the daughters and wives
In blood I take my payment in full with their lives

I spare not land or servants my wake is slow dead there
I take their wives and daughters
They stand there watching, watching
Hoping to get my life but when I'm through they know they must pay

Battle Hymns

By moonlight we ride ten thousands side by side
With swords drawn held high our whips and armour shine
Hail to thee our infantry still brave beyond the grave
All sworn the eternal vow the time to strike is now

Gone are the days when freedom shone now blood and steel meet bone
In the light of the battle's way the sands of time will shake
How proud our soldiers stand with mace and chain in hand
Sound of charge into glory ride over the top of their vanguished pride

To the battle we ride we crossed a starlit sky
No space no time we'll catch the wind
Strange losses, men died we crossed a starlit sky
And still no space and time we'll catch the wind