[Intro]
[Choir]
[Low harmonium plays the three-note motif.]
Gold in the rafters, frost on the rail,
Bright halls breathing before the veil.

[Verse 1]
[Male Vocal]
Balder walked where the hearth-smoke climbed,
White noon caught on the shield-rim shine.
Frigg laid linen on tables of pine,
Odin watched ravens cut through the light.
Every hall-hammer rang his name,
Gold in the rafters, gold in the flame.

[Pre-Chorus]
[Male Vocal]
Under the benches the old roots groaned,
Deep in the timber, deep in the stone,
A cold little rhythm began to crawl,
Too small for the feast, too old for the wall.

[Chorus]
[Duet]
The gold in Asgard's rafters burned bright,
Balder, beloved, the day wearing white.
We sang like winter would never draw near,
We drank down the sun and swallowed our fear.
The gold in Asgard's rafters would fall,
Brightest of gods, brightest of all.

[Verse 2]
[Male Vocal]
Draupnir glimmered beside the cup,
Nine nights of wisdom rose up in dust.
Höðr sat listening beside the door,
Counting the bootsteps across the floor.
Loki smiled where the lamp-smoke curled,
Small as a splinter in the ribs of the world.

[Pre-Chorus]
[Male Vocal]
The mead went bitter, the fires bent low,
A raven beat time in the blue-black snow.
Balder laughed, but the rafters heard
The crack in the wing of an unnamed bird.

[Chorus]
[Duet]
The gold in Asgard's rafters burned bright,
Balder, beloved, the day wearing white.
We sang like winter would never draw near,
We drank down the sun and swallowed our fear.
The gold in Asgard's rafters would fall,
Brightest of gods, brightest of all.

[Instrumental Break]
[Bowed lyre and low guitars repeat the three-note motif over slow toms.]

[Bridge]
[Male Vocal]
No sword had spoken, no wolf had run,
No horn had broken the spine of the sun.
Yet every cup showed a hairline seam,
And every god stood inside a dream.

[Build-up]
[Choir]
If joy has a shadow, it waits underneath.
If love is a fortress, it opens with breath.
One overlooked twig can open the gate.
One overlooked twig can answer death.

[Final Chorus]
[Duet]
The gold in Asgard's rafters burned bright,
Balder, beloved, the day wearing white.
We sang like winter would never draw near,
We drank down the sun and swallowed our fear.
Gold in the rafters, crack in the wall,
Brightest of gods, brightest to fall.

[Outro]
[Choir]
[Harmonium fades into bowed lyre and one final floor-tom strike.]
Gold in the rafters, frost on the rail,
One breath of mistletoe hidden and pale.
