The black V
Ein Werk in mehreren Teilen über das Leben und Wirken des schwäbischen Räubers Xaver Hohenleiter, genannt "der schwarze Vere". Zu Ruhm gekommen da er nach seiner Gefangennahme getötet wurde durch einen Blitz der in den Gefängnisturm einschlug und durch die Ketten weitergeleitet wurde mit denen er an die Wand gefesselt war.
- Battlefield -
Where can we run to, where can we hide
How can we leave this battlefield behind
The devil´s in my blood the devil´s in yours
Salvation is what we must find
They used the food and they used the wine as the bait
And as we noticed what´s going on well it was too late
So my friend I leave the night gives me cover
I go and leave those warpigs alone
Gonna find me a woman some land or a job
Take her as my wife and make us a home
There will be no more shouting nor blood on my hands
`Cause I don´t care what king or emperor rules these lands
- Expensive times -
On this market square I take a walk
I see those things I can´t afford
Handful of wheat, a loaf of bred
Cost you more than an arm and a leg
And that fat king keeps getting fatter
While the poor starve out on the streets
And the rain keeps on pourin´
Makes this land impossible to leave
But we are a few, and our intension´s unshaken
Who does not give is taken
We would have worked, but there´s no work to find
And the same thought crossed each and ev´ry mind
On our own we´re scared and weak
But together there´s more havoc we can wreak
And that warm sun has stopped shining
Thunder, storm and lightning every day
Since November ground´s covered with snow
So high it blocks each and every way
But we are a few, and our intension´s unshaken
Who does not give is taken
- The rich man and the thief -
I am such a rich man in this dirty little town
You come steppin´ into my kingdom
put your dirty hands on my crown
So let me tell you something
in high places I´ve got friends
And you can be sure that they will help
to put the cuffs around your hands
On that day out there in the woods
you stole my wagon and my purse
That was the day I became aware
you´re the region´s biggest curse
From the danube to lake constance ´cross the fields
There´ll be countless lawmen at your heels
You take the peasant´s food and wine
and steal the money from their hands
In the village two miles south
you stole two horses from their stands
It may be rumours but I´ve heard
on palm sunday people say
You murder´d a widow cowardly
hid her dead body in the hay
On that day out there in the woods
you bullied my servants, taunted me
Now I won´t rest until the day
you are no longer free
- The old mill -
A foggy night down by the old mill
The miller just turned out the lights
Dangerous eyes in the dark woods
Makin´ plans of how to get inside
The miller he may be dreamin´
In his cosy bed sleeping deep
But outside his fate may be turning
Hunger makes a killer out of a thief
The granary is stuffed - `bout to burst
There´s plenty of wheat, spelt and rye
Gets the children through all the cold days
Of a winter that makes people die
The thief he´s pulling his old knife
The moonlight it shines from the blade
Like a blast of air he´s through the front-porch
And the miller – how sad a fate
There´s so much in this cold world
That makes an honest man beg, cheat and steal
You may say that love is the healer
But hunger and cold makes you feel
Like a shadow when you loved the sun
A prisoner among all the free men
Like a liar in the temple of truth
There´s not much love gives you then
The thief creeping on the cold floor
Ready to give what it takes
Once a soldier and now a killer
Not much of a difference it makes
Rises up beside the wooden bed
Sees the miller, his wife and baby
He cuts the keys from his sleep robe
And heads out to the granary
There´s so much in this cold world
Makes an honest man beg, cheat and steal
But those things you once swore to yourself
Remind you of how you never wanted to feel
Like a shadow when you loved the sun
A prisoner among all the free men
Like a liar in the temple of truth
Prudence is what you need then
- Captured -
Hidden deep in the woods where no one dares to step inside
Got a strange feelin comin´ every night and it stays until daylight
On ev´ry tree, on ev´ry door there´s a picture of me and those who follow me
The count, the fat man and authority they want me to be no longer free
Wherever I look, behind ev´ry tree
I see their henchman hidin´, waitin´for me
Robbed the miller again, me and the guys guess it was a trap
Not much to take, the miller still awake this time I´ve got to take the rap
Horses tramplin´ in the woods there´s their shoutin´ in the dark, I hear my name
Try shake `em off on the plains, their horses are too quick, this time it´s in vain
Wherever I run is all that I see
armed to the teeth henchman aimin´at me
- Thunder & lightning -
There´s a terrible coldness
In that tower they chained you to the wall
Make you pay for your crimes
And some things you haven´t done at all
The final act is played
Soon the curtain will hit the stage
So long my friend so long
Whatever world that you may roam
Without the hunger and without the pain
And all those things nearly drove you insane
You´ve done all that you can
But a man is just a man
They hunted you down in the end
And lead you to the gallows my friend
There´s lightning in the distance
And the thunder you can hear it roll
Something is coming to get you
It´s you for whom the bell tolls
A lightning strikes the spire
Through your chains it sets you on fire
So long my friend so long
Whatever world that you may roam
Without the hunger and without the pain
And all those things nearly drove you insane
You´ve done all that you can
But a man is just a man
Bad luck took you down in the end
Or was it divine providence