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Marston Moor

from Of Roots and Flesh by Northern Oak

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    - The physical CD of the album, printed by Sound Performance Studios and beautifully packaged in a six-panel digipack case with stunning, panoramic artwork from Augustinas Našlėnas and a 16-page booklet containing lyrics and more artwork.

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about

Marston Moor is a song about the English Civil War; specifically, a battle in North Yorkshire, July 1644 between the Roundheads and the Royalists/Cavaliers which led to the Royalists losing control of the north of England and retreating southwards. The defeat was a resounding one, and the Royalist loss of the north was a key turning point in the outcome of the war and their eventual defeat.

We've never made much of a secret of being proud to be based in Sheffield and Yorkshire (see the 'Yorkshire Teashirt' that we put out a few years back!), so when Rich brought this song into practice with the battle of Marston Moor as a suggested subject, we were happy to work on it. It's definitely become one of our favourite songs to play live (more so in the north of England than the south, unsurprisingly!), both because of the powerful lyrics and because of the heavy 13/4 riff that we slotted into the middle of the song.
~Chris

lyrics

*How splendid are the spears?
How golden our hauberk.
Our watchword Liberty
Our banner the sky.
How purple [shall] our blood be?
How glorious our scars.
When the deaths upon them
Smiling at the stars.*

Sir Rupert of the Rhine surveyed his Royalist force
Awaiting battle at Marston Moor
He thought that in the morn they'd take back
The North
When thunder cracked [and] our muskets roared.

*How splendid are the spears?
How golden our hauberk.
Our watchword Liberty
Our banner the sky.
How purple [shall] our blood be?
How glorious our scars.
When the deaths upon them
Smiling at the stars.*

Our hearts and souls emblazoned
With the hopes of all creation.
We will bring our lands salvation
As we seek to tear from his head
The crown

Keep fighting to

End the divine right of kings
No man of faith could leach the life from the countrymen in his care.
End the divine right of kings
This poison will be swept aside by roundhead soldiers borne on angels' wings.
End the divine right of kings
No man of faith could leach the life from the countrymen in his care.
End the divine right of kings
This poison will be swept aside by roundhead soldiers borne on angels' wings.
Borne on angels' wings...

Lyrics marked with * taken from "A Roundhead's Rallying Song" by Alfred Noyes

credits

from Of Roots and Flesh, released October 4, 2014
Music & lyrics: Northern Oak

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about

Northern Oak Sheffield, UK

Founded in early 2006 during a wintry excursion to the Peak District, Northern Oak have been spreading their unique brand of flute-heavy progressive folk metal across Sheffield and the rest of the UK ever since.

Our music sounds like Jethro Tull played by extreme metal fans with an appreciation for everything from Pink Floyd to Emperor.
... more

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