Lyrics
[Intro]
[Verse 1]
Four hundred years and they call me a child,
a sapling in shadow, well-mannered and mild.
So I bow to the canopy, gracious and slow,
and I count every leaf that I'll teach how to go.
I wear the court's colors, I learn the court's grace,
and I smile like a knife that's been polished for days.
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, isn't he lovely, oh, isn't he kind —
say it again while I'm hollowing your mind.
[Chorus]
Come, take my hand, let me dazzle your eyes,
I'll pour you a splendor too sweet to be wise.
The lovelier the smile, the deeper the blade —
that's the whole of the glamour, my darlings, that's the trade.
You'll toast to my beauty, you'll dance till you fall,
and you'll never once notice I'm taking it all.
[Verse 2]
My little ones flit where the great cannot see,
chaos in a teacup, all loyal to me.
A whisper, a flutter, a ruin spread thin —
when one of them perishes, a secret comes in.
I'll spend them like coins on the road to the crown,
and I'll weep the right tears as I write them all down.
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, isn't he gracious, oh, isn't he true —
keep clapping, old lords, while I'm coming for you.
[Chorus]
Come, take my hand, let me dazzle your eyes,
I'll pour you a splendor too sweet to be wise.
The lovelier the smile, the deeper the blade —
that's the whole of the glamour, my darlings, that's the trade.
You'll toast to my beauty, you'll dance till you fall,
and you'll never once notice I'm taking it all.
[Bridge]
A year-long fete and the candles burn down,
no army, no siege — just a party, a crown.
Let the Kindly old Lord keep his ancient, kind throne;
I've a thousand sweet years, and I'm never alone.
Patience is a poison I've learned how to pour —
I will smile at his table till there's no table for.
[Bridge build]
So light every chandelier, throw the doors open wide —
the Duke of all Splendor has come home to preside.
[Final Chorus]
Come, take my hand, let me dazzle your eyes,
I'll pour you a splendor too sweet to be wise.
The lovelier the smile, the deeper the blade —
that's the whole of the glamour, my darlings, that's the trade.
You'll toast to my beauty, you'll dance till you fall,
and the kindest thing about me is I'll let you watch it all.
[Outro]
Bow to your Duke, little court, little crown —
I waited a lifetime. Now sit yourselves down.
