Intro (low chant, building)
Oak and ash and thorn… oak and ash and thorn…
The old ways never died, they were only waiting to be born…
Verse 1
They marked me with their whispers in the village of the saved,
Said “there walks the devil’s daughter” for the crooked path I craved.
But I held no blade of malice, burned no candle black with sin —
I only heard the greenwood groan and let the wild come in.
Verse 2
Their bells rang out on Sunday, iron tongues against the sky,
While I stood barefoot in the bracken, watching grey geese fly.
They called it my damnation, they called it devil’s play —
But the rowan bent to bless me, and the stones showed me the way.
Chorus (full band, stomping, voices in rough harmony)
Hey! The roots run deep and the roots run old,
Deeper than their scripture, older than their gold!
Let them cry “satanist!” — let them clutch their fear,
The land herself has claimed me, and the land holds me near!
Oak and ash and thorn — the old ways called me home,
I am kin to root and antler, I will never walk alone!
Verse 3
There is thunder in the drum-skin, there is wisdom in the yew,
There’s a fire on the hilltop where the Druid-flame burns true.
I gave my grief to running water, gave my rage unto the peat,
And the mother took them from me, laid the green moss at my feet.
Bridge (drums drop out — just voice and drone, like an old field song)
They feared what they knew not, as their fathers feared before,
Burned the wise ones in the ashes, nailed the horned god to the door.
But you cannot kill the springtime, you cannot chain the sea,
And you cannot name me “evil” for loving what made me.
(drums crash back in)
No — you cannot name me evil for loving what made me!
Chorus
Hey! The roots run deep and the roots run old,
Deeper than their scripture, older than their gold!
Let them cry “satanist!” — let them clutch their fear,
The land herself has claimed me, and the land holds me near!
Oak and ash and thorn — the old ways called me home,
I am kin to root and antler, I will never walk alone!
Verse 4 (quieter, warm — the solace verse)
Now I keep the wheel a-turning, eight fires in the year,
Sun return and harvest home, and all my dead held dear.
And if peace is what they pray for in their houses built of stone,
Well, I found mine in the hollow where the standing stones have grown.
Final Chorus (half-tempo, massive, everyone singing)
The roots run deep… and the roots run old…
Deeper than their scripture… older than their gold…
Let them say their words — I have nothing left to fear,
The land herself has claimed me, and the land holds me near.
Oak and ash and thorn — the old ways called me home,
I am kin to root and antler… and I never walk alone.
Outro (chant fading, single drum like a heartbeat)
Oak and ash and thorn… oak and ash and thorn…
The old ways never died… they were only waiting to be born…
(last drumbeat — silence)
