The Forest of Vlad
Verse I
In Wallachia the crows flew low,
The earth wore iron thorns,
A prince sat quiet in a chair
As if the day were warm.
No drum was beat, no banner raised,
No sermon cried aloud,
Just silence thick as curdled milk
And flies like drifting shrouds.
Chorus
Oh Vlad, oh Vlad, what king are you
With mercy nailed shut tight?
You planted men like winter trees
And watched them bloom in fright.
From heel to jaw the stakes would rise,
A prayer denied halfway—
Even hardened Turks looked on
And slowly turned away.
Verse II
A lake of blood beneath the moon,
It steamed like butcher’s broth,
The wind carried a copper stink
That caught the breath and stopped.
No sword was swung, no battle fought,
No charge at break of day—
Just bodies speaking warnings
In a language made of decay.
Chorus
Oh Vlad, oh Vlad, your law was wood,
Your scripture sharpened stakes,
You ruled by fear distilled so pure
That courage learned to shake.
Bottom to top, the lesson climbed,
A ladder none survived—
The crime was coming armed with hope
And leaving still alive.
Bridge
They say the forest whispered back
When evening cooled the land,
A thousand throats that never closed
Still begging, still unmanned.
Was it justice, was it madness,
Or terror dressed as rule?
A kingdom kept by nightmares
Is a kingdom carved from fuel.
Verse III
The banners rotted where they hung,
The war moved somewhere else,
For rumours marched ahead of men
And killed them by themselves.
No siege could stand that reek of death,
No courage breach that sight—
A victory won without a blow,
Paid for in endless night.
Final Chorus
Oh Vlad, oh Vlad, remember this
When legends bare their teeth:
A crown secured by horror
Rests heavy on belief.
Empires fall, but stories bleed
Through centuries of ash—
And still the stakes stand upright
In the places courage cracked.
Outro
So sing it low, don’t sing it proud,
This isn’t praise or cheer—
Just history with its gloves pulled off
And blood still drying here.
V.2.0
Impaled Blues (for Vlad, After Midnight)
[Spoken intro]
Yeah…
You ever smell fear before you see it?
That’s how this town says hello.
Verse I
There’s a forest out back of the kingdom,
Don’t look too long, don’t stare,
Trees got boots instead of roots,
And mouths that forgot their prayers.
Wind plays ribs like harmonicas,
Moonlight shines through bone,
Prince sits down to supper
Like he’s eating all alone.
Chorus
Bottom to top, that’s the way it goes,
No shortcut through the pain,
You climb that spike like a sinner’s psalm
And come down something else again.
Even the Turks said “Jesus Christ”
And turned their horses slow—
When terror stands up straight like that
You don’t need drums to go.
Verse II
Blood pooled thick by the banquet hall,
Smelled sweet, smelled wrong,
Like rust and wine had a baby
And left it there too long.
No battle cry, no clashing steel,
Just flies keeping time,
That’s what happens when fear learns
How to do your fighting for you, fine.
Chorus
Bottom to top, don’t ask me why,
That’s how the lesson sticks,
You don’t forget a sermon
When it’s written into flesh like this.
Empires march on stomachs, sure,
But rumours walk on air—
And they got there first, my friend,
Already standing there.
Bridge (half-spoken)
Was it justice?
Was it madness?
Was it just a man
Who figured pain was cheaper
Than trying to understand?
You rule with nails and silence
Long enough, you’ll see—
You don’t scare men into loving you,
You just teach them how to flee.
Verse III
Crow won’t land, dog won’t bark,
Even the church bell’s shy,
Priest drinks hard and won’t look out
When the wind goes passing by.
The war took one look at the view
And packed up its affairs—
Left the field to the prince
And his very upright prayers.
Final Chorus
Bottom to top, sing it soft now, boys,
This ain’t no victory tune,
Just history with its coat off
Under a sickle moon.
Crowns get heavy, stories don’t,
They travel light and fast—
And some nights you can still smell it
When the past walks past.
Outro (spoken, piano dying away)
Yeah…
That’s Wallachia for you.
Tip your bartender.
Don’t touch the trees.
