We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Monster's Ball

from Prisoners of the Heart by Mark Lucas

/

about

The title comes from a custom in medieval England where prisoners awaiting execution were called monsters. The night before their execution, their jailers would hold a feast known as a monster's ball as their final farewell. I came to it via the story of the Kelly gang & the words allegedly spoken by Steve Hart on being asked to join.

lyrics

My name is not important now
I lie in the field of dreams
My story it’s been told before
But through the telling I am freed

It was cruel fate that brought us here
Though we worked to make this land our own
We couldn’t break the chains that crown and poverty
Laid on poor men far from home

It’s a short life and a merry one boys
But in truth no life at all
If you’re trying to earn a shilling scratching for a living
Playing fiddle at the Monster’s Ball

Well I took to the road in a traveling band
We were proud but desperate men
And we knew that we would do what we must do
To see our children fed

Yeah you do what you must just to get you through
And your bond you will not break
I’d rather dance with the devil on the gallows pole
Than eat the crumbs from a rich man’s cake

It’s a short life etc.

I’ve haunted these streets for many long years
And it’s clear that little has changed
The bulls and the bears still take the lion’s share
While the poor man works the vein

Now history can measure a man
But it can’t undo what’s done
And in the final count I’ll take my chance
When the judgement day has come

It’s a short life etc.

credits

from Prisoners of the Heart, released January 22, 2019

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Mark Lucas image

Mark Lucas Sydney, Australia

Australian roots music – it’s a sense of place. In singer-songwriter Mark Lucas' word picture world you’ll encounter ghosts of the past & yearning spirits of the present, making themselves known in a variety of familiar locales, together with a motley cast of misfits & dreamers who could fit in just about anywhere there’s people & stories to tell. ... more

contact / help

Contact Mark Lucas

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Mark Lucas, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now