Verse 1
Grandfather rowed for a jarl who never learned his name
Thirty men below deck, one drum, one aching frame
Salt cut the wood grain, blisters turned to bark
Steered by stars he couldn't see past the dark
Said the captain's boots stayed dry the whole trip through
While the bench splintered under every stroke we knew
Fed on hard bread, prayed the storm would pass us by
Buried his brother at sea, kept rowing, didn't cry
Said the ship don't care whose hands are on the oar
Only cares you pull until you can't pull no more
Pre-Chorus
How many benches broke before we saw the coast
How many names got swallowed, never made the boast
I carry what he carried, just a different kind of tide
Chorus
The weight of the longship don't sink the ones who row
Just marks the ones who make it, scars is how you know
No glory in the water, only wake behind
Every bench I sat in built the one that's mine
Verse 2
Now I'm rowing different waters, same drum in my chest
Alarm clock set at five, same ache, same test
Traded timber for a ledger, oar for a pen
Same jarl in a suit, still counting profit off ten men
I steer the room now, still I keep one hand on the oar
Teach the young ones the rhythm so they row for something more
No captain's boots for me, I stand where the salt hits hard
Every scar's a receipt, every callus is a card
I paid what he paid, just a different kind of coin
Same current underneath us, same crew, same joint
Pre-Chorus
How many benches broke before we saw the coast
How many names got swallowed, never made the boast
I carry what he carried, just a different kind of tide
Chorus
The weight of the longship don't sink the ones who row
Just marks the ones who make it, scars is how you know
No glory in the water, only wake behind
Every bench I sat in built the one that's mine
Bridge
Turns out the ones who steer once pulled the hardest oar
That's the only way the wheel gets earned, not before
I put my son's hand on the wood, said feel that grain
That's your blood in the water, that's your name, not your chain
Chorus
The weight of the longship don't sink the ones who row
Just marks the ones who make it, scars is how you know
No glory in the water, only wake behind
Every bench I sat in built the one that's mine
