Frank Turner - The Hymn Of Kassiani (Official Audio)

Buy/Stream: https://frankturner.lnk.to/NoMansLandSo 'Tales From No Man's Land' Podcast: https://frankturner.lnk.to/NMLSubscribe More info: www.frank-turner.com Lyrics: I’ve heard that they call me the woman Who has fallen into many sins. They made me bear myrrh to the burial, And at the graveside, I began to sing. Woe to me, all of you sinners, I’m the lady of a moonless night. The darkness to me is my ecstasy, But for my sins I am far from contrite. They dragged me away from the library; I was cast to the bride-show’s harsh light, Where I told the king I was better than him, And thus earned Theophilus’ spite. And Theo, he still thinks I love him, But I know him, and he knows not a thing. They call me Kassiani: The woman who rejected the king. The emperor, he tore down the icons, The images and words thought divine, But in the quiet of my cell I redrew them all, And the name that I signed with was mine. I was scourged with the lash for my impudence, My tears were a fountain of brine, But I conceded no defeat, my groaning heart beats With defiant blue blood Byzantine. And Theo, he still thinks I love him But I know him, and he knows not a thing. Don’t disregard me as a servant, know me As the woman who rejected the king. Yes I hid from his eyes when he visited, But don’t dare think me frightened or meek. I was sick of his ineffable condescension, And I will not kiss those sacred feet. I will make his footsteps into music To be heard by both heathen and Greek. They will mock his meanderings in paradise at twilight, And they’ll remember me: Kassiani, She who hates silence when it’s time to speak. And Theo, he still thinks I love him, He knows not the multitude of my sins. They will sing my song after Byzantium has gone: The woman who rejected the king. I’ve heard all the things that they’ve called me; It’s just so many arrows and slings. Leave the glory to the stepmother, and to the son, I'm the woman who rejected the king.