Once she had finished writing down the notes of her melody, it was time to come up with the lyrics for the song. Some songs were better as purely instrumental songs. At times, words could actually detract from the beauty of the song. But this was not one of those songs. This song had an important message to convey, and for that, it needed lyrics. Not only that, it needed exactly the right lyrics; poorly chosen lyrics could destroy an otherwise good song. Either the story, or message of the song would be lost, or people wouldn't want to hear it due to boring, or badly chosen lyrics.
As before when she was creating the melody, Seira stopped to think of what she wanted to say. It was important to know what you wanted to say when creating lyrics for a song. If you didn't, you could get lost in the words, and the song would ramble meaninglessly. The tone of the lyrics was equally important. Too blunt, and the listener would feel as though they were being lectured. No one liked to be lectured when they were doing something that was supposed to be entertaining...like listening to music. But if the lyrics were too causal, and the song was about something serious, then the true meaning of the song could be lost. If the words were inappropriate for the content of the song, it would annoy the listener. And if they were inappropriate to the age of the crowd, the song's meaning wouldn't be understood at all.
Seira found herself "singing" the melody as she searched for the words that would convey the meaning behind the story she wanted to tell through the song. One of the things she needed to decide was what story did she want to tell, exactly? She wanted to remind people of the horrors of war, certainly. But most of the best songs had a "character" whose point of view showed through the song. A narrator of sorts. People tended to relate better to a song that was about someone telling a story - someone they could relate to.
Sing what you know...is it really that simple? she wondered.
It was always important for a bard to sing about something they could relate to. A young bard like herself had no business singing bawdy songs because it was assumed that she would have no idea what the song was really about...and for the most part, they'd be right. Men seemed to be fascinated with flipping up girls' skirts, and taking them to back corners, or bedrooms in bawdy songs. But Seira wasn't entirely certain what they were supposed to
do there once they went. Or why the men wanted to flip the girls' skirts up. All that would do is embarrass the poor girls.
For that same reason, love songs were often difficult for a bard who had never fallen in love to sing well. It was hard to get the emotions behind a song right when you didn't really know what they felt like. With those thoughts in mind, Seira decided that
she would be the "character" in the song. Her story would be told for all to hear, and remember.
"Trapped all alone.
Far from home.
With only cold fear to sustain her.
Two sisters kept apart by powers unknown.
The iron gate forbade passage to all.
Silent witness to the horrors that came."
Seira sang softly, remembering how frightened she'd been when she realized she'd been trapped in Lowtown. Every so often, she would pause to write down the words that seemed to flow out of her. She would worry about arranging the verses, and polishing up the stanzas later. For now, she wanted...no, needed...to find the words to tell her story.
"A sea of men akin to the stars in the sky.
None knew from whence they came.
Blades of silver gleamed bright in the sun,
brought an endless flood of crimson death.
Merchant or beggar, young or old,
none could stand before them."
There had been so many warriors locked in battle; as countless as the stars in the sky. The people of Lowtown had no idea who was friend, or foe, since the soldiers of the Iron Hand were just as likely to kill them as the "enemy" was...and no one knew who that "enemy" was, either. Innocents died in droves, never knowing why they died, or what the soldiers were fighting for. Seira didn't think they would have cared even if they had known. She sure hadn't. The only thing that had mattered to her was staying alive long enough to find a way back to Seri.
"Families torn apart.
Screams of pain, screams of despair.
Terror fills the air.
Mothers wail over lost children,
while orphans search for what cannot be found.
Calling out for those who can no longer answer."
How many times had she seen a parent crying over the too still body of their child? How many children, many of them injured, cried out for their parents...for someone to help them? Being on her own as she was, she had seen a great deal of suffering. But she had eventually become numb to it. The only things that mattered to her had been her twin, and earning enough nels for them to survive. Until her time in Lowtown. It seemed bitterly ironic to Seira that after all the times she could have gone out of her way to help someone and didn't, when she truly wanted to help someone, she couldn't. The dead haunted her nightmares, asking her why she hadn't saved them. She hadn't even been able to save herself, but that never seemed to matter in her nightmares. Those images would probably continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.
"Those spared by the unreasoning blade found a crueler fate.
Left behind to face the aching loss.
Cold fear plagued every trill.
Hunger, and thirst, a lingering death,
awaited those spared quick release."
Seira paused to look back at what she had written. She changed a word here, and a phrase there, but overall, she was happy with what she had come up with. The first verse would be repeated as the chorus, tying her firmly into the song. It still needed an ending, though. Something to warn people to remember what was lost so that no one would ever want to wage war again.
