Bardic Dissuasion lyrics

[Verse 1]
I just sang some song about slaying a dragon
I’ve ne’er before actually seen
The audience cheers and they tip by the flagon
Of precious, mind-blackening mead

A child approaches, eyes glossy and gleaming;
He smiles when he looks up me
He says, “I know some tunes on my grandfather’s lute
And one day I’ll be just like thee.”

[Chorus]
“Sing us a song, dear bard! Weave us a tale!
Tell us how good people always prevail!
Play us a ditty, we’ll pay from the tap
And after, you’ll feast from our scraps!”

[Verse 2]
Tell you the truth, kid, the story’s a lie;
Ten fools fight a dragon, and nine of them die
. . . Plus one
The world is a death trap that no one survives
And bards are the lowest alive

I sing out my heart to the clamoring crowd
Night after night, but the quiet gets louder and louder
I once was so joyous and proud
And now I sleep under the clouds
[Chorus]
We bards are all beggars, the rest of us thieves
For we are the waste that society leaves
Our lungs full of song, and our bellies of air
But kid, that’s just life – it ain’t fair

[Verse 3]
The child runs off crying and leaves me alone;
I gulp down the rest of my mead
The patrons all gawk and they scoff and they groan
But I bite every hand that don’t feed

Take it from me, folks, if you want to fester
And rot with the rest on the street
Then pick up a lyre with the liars and jesters
We’ll sing some more songs we can’t eat