[Intro]
Step by step on the treaty road,
Heaven carries a hostage load.

[Verse 1]
NYORD walked north with his sea-coat wet,
A guest, a pledge, a living debt.
FRAYR came quiet, FRAY-yah came still,
Past Asgard’s gate on a treaty hill.
From EYE-seer lands went HOH-neer tall,
With bright words polished for every hall.
MEE-meer followed with wisdom’s weight,
Counting the locks on a friendly gate.

[Pre-Chorus]
They smiled where the watchmen stood,
But no smile warmed the iron wood.
A hostage eats from a golden plate,
Yet hears the hinge on every gate.

[Chorus]
Hostages of Heaven, bound by the feast,
Kings call it peace when the blades have ceased.
Hostages of Heaven, honored and held,
Soft are the chains where the war was quelled.
Name us guests, name us leaven,
Still we walk as hostages of heaven.

[Verse 2]
FRAY-yah learned the corners of Odin’s hall,
Which servants listened behind which wall.
FRAYR weighed laughter, NYORD weighed doors,
Counting the steps between foreign floors.
HOH-neer spoke when MEE-meer was near,
Strong in the mouth, but thin in the ear.
The VAH-neer watched his polished face,
And felt the insult beneath the grace.

[Pre-Chorus]
Peace can wear a woven sleeve,
Peace can smile while it learns to thieve.
Odin fed guests with a generous hand,
And studied the maps of the VAH-neer land.

[Chorus]
Hostages of Heaven, bound by the feast,
Kings call it peace when the blades have ceased.
Hostages of Heaven, honored and held,
Soft are the chains where the war was quelled.
Name us guests, name us leaven,
Still we walk as hostages of heaven.

[Instrumental Break][Low horns answer the angular guitar riff while drums march like guarded footsteps.]

[Bridge]
A hostage is a bridge with a knife below,
A seed in a field where strangers sow.
He learns the songs, he learns the bread,
He sleeps where peace has made his bed.

[Build-up]
Open the hall. Close the hand.
Teach the guest to love the land.
Pour the mead. Count the name.
Call it peace and keep the claim.

[Final Chorus]
Hostages of Heaven, bound by the feast,
Kings call it peace when the blades have ceased.
Hostages of Heaven, honored and held,
Soft are the chains where the war was quelled.
Still we walk as hostages of heaven.
Peace has borrowed a living life.

[Outro]
Step by step on the treaty road,
Heaven carries a hostage load.
