[Intro][Golden leaves ring softly while fingerpicked guitar restates the album's opening melody in a major form.] [Verse 1: Narrator, warm male baritone] We built by the river, not high on the hill, Left room for the flood and the wandering will. Mag-nee taught joiners the weight of the beam; Moh-thee dug channels that watered the green. Balder kept stories beside the night fire; Hoh-thur named costs when the children inquired. Vee-tharr spoke rarely, but never withdrew; Young feet ran laughing through clover and dew. [Chorus: Community, mixed ensemble, open harmony] Under the New Eagle, morning opens wide, Gold leaves ring softly on Ig-drah-sil's side. We do not swear that the circle must end; We learn, we fail, we answer, amend. Under the New Eagle, no future is sealed— The root keeps the question; our hands choose the field. [Verse 2: Daughter of the Sun, clear female mezzo-soprano] I take my rest when the west turns red, No wolf at my wheel, no fear at my head. At dusk I grow amber, at dawn I grow white, A keeper of rhythm, not prisoner of flight. [Narrator, warm male baritone] Leef and Leef-thrah-seer grew silver with years, Teaching their children both courage and fears. They spoke of the fire, but never proclaimed That those born later inherited blame. [Chorus: Community, mixed ensemble, open harmony] Under the New Eagle, morning opens wide, Gold leaves ring softly on Ig-drah-sil's side. We do not swear that the circle must end; We learn, we fail, we answer, amend. Under the New Eagle, no future is sealed— The root keeps the question; our hands choose the field. [Instrumental Break][Wooden flute, tagelharpa and acoustic guitar pass the three-note motif without drums.] [Verse 3: Child and Balder, call and response] [Child, clear treble voice] Some nights the great root carries a word— Order, or rain; I cannot be sure. Power, or water beneath the grain. Should I fear if it calls again? [Balder, warm male tenor] Roots hold the voices of all who have been. Listen, but choose what you carry within. [Narrator, warm male baritone] He placed neither axe nor crown on the ground; Three notes climbed softly out of the sound. [Bridge: Community, mixed ensemble, restrained] No ending can promise that wisdom will stay; No song keeps hunger for power away. Hands that remember why old kingdoms fell May notice the smoke before hearing the bell. [Final Chorus: Community, mixed ensemble, full harmony] Under the New Eagle, morning opens wide, Gold leaves ring clearly on Ig-drah-sil's side. We will not claim that the circle must end; We choose, we question, repair and amend. Green Earth After Fire, still tender, still real— The root keeps the question; our hands choose the field. [Outro: Child, clear treble voice] Black water behind us, New rain on the grain. The past is a teacher That may teach chains again.