Intro
(Einherjar! Einherjar!)
Already dead — still sharpening the blade...
(Hu-ha!) Five hundred forty doors — already made —
Valhöll roof of shields — already paid —
(Einherjar!) We train every morning — unafraid...
Verse 1
Valkyrie found me face-down in the gore-field,
Skögul pulled me upright through the war-yield.
Said: you died well — come and hold the sword-shield —
Odin needs the finest for the last battle-more-sealed.
Woke in Valhöll — rafters built of spear-shafts,
Shield-tile roof above and mead already in the ear-drafts.
Four hundred thirty-two thousand in the near-blast —
Every one of us died clean — every one holding fast.
Dawn comes — we arm up — pour onto the practice-ground,
Eight hundred through each door — that's the fractal-sound.
We kill each other properly — no half-measure's found —
Full death every morning — full resurrection by sundown.
Sæhrímnir cooking — boar resurrected nightly,
Heiðrún the goat pouring mead — rafters lit up brightly.
Odin walks the hall and eats nothing — that's the sightly —
Gives his meat to Geri and Freki — just drinks wine politely.
Pre-Chorus
We know what's coming — count was done before the feast (done before)
Surtr's fire-army and the wolf and the beast.
Jörmungandr rising from the flooding in the east —
We're outnumbered — trained anyway — that's deceased. (uh!)
Chorus
Already died once — won't stop us at the gate (stop us at the gate!)
432,000 training for the final date (the final date!)
Gjallarhorn sounds — 540 doors — we wait (doors we wait!)
Einherjar marching — Ragnarök — we're great! (Hu-ha!)
Verse 2
You think we mourn the life we had before the choosing?
Sat in the corpse-hall analyzing what we're losing?
Brother — we were picked from every battlefield's bruising —
The Valkyrie doesn't choose the hesitant or confused-ing.
I died with my name clean and my shield-arm extended —
The way a warrior goes is how the saga gets amended.
Every morning here I die again — fully splendid —
Every wound I took in life gets practiced and defended.
Huginn leaves at dawn and Muninn follows after —
Both return by evening through the rafter-laughter.
They bring the news of every world's disaster —
We listen over mead-cups — train a little faster.
Odin walks among us — one eye — counting faces —
Measuring the ready against the empty spaces.
He doesn't speak of odds — we've all done the calculation:
We march because that's what you do in this situation.
Pre-Chorus
We know what's coming — count was done before the feast (done before)
Surtr's fire-army and the wolf and the beast.
Jörmungandr rising from the flooding in the east —
We're outnumbered — trained anyway — that's deceased. (uh!)
Chorus
Already died once — won't stop us at the gate (stop us at the gate!)
432,000 training for the final date (the final date!)
Gjallarhorn sounds — 540 doors — we wait (doors we wait!)
Einherjar marching — Ragnarök — we're great! (Hu-ha!)
Bridge
You want to know what it feels like being chosen?
(what's it feel like?)
Not the mead — the mead is just the token.
(not the mead...)
Not the hall — the hall is just the housing.
(not the hall...)
It's the morning when you rise without the doubting.
No wife worrying — no crop to bring the harvest —
(no harvest...)
No king to serve except the one who's largest.
(one king...)
Nothing left to guard except the purpose —
(the purpose...)
Die each morning — come back to the surface.
We are what a warrior becomes
(what he becomes...)
When every other thing that he was — just numbs.
(just numbs...)
Pure edge. Pure mission. Pure battalion.
(Skál to the fallen! Skál — we're the medallion!)
(432,000 blades — Ragnarök's the stallion!)
Drop — Instrumental
Chorus
Already died once — won't stop us at the gate (stop us at the gate!)
432,000 training for the final date (the final date!)
Gjallarhorn sounds — 540 doors — we wait (doors we wait!)
Einherjar marching — Ragnarök — we're great! (Hu-ha!)
Outro
(Einherjar! Einherjar!)
Gjallarhorn hasn't sounded yet...
(Hu-ha!)
But when it does —
540 doors open.
We've been ready
since we died.
(Skál.)
