The Serf

I am the humble servant of a rich and noble lord

I daily clean his great hall out, and see his wine is stored

He trusts me with the pantry key, the cooks to me must come

For every side of venison, and every cup of rum

And over on his manor my family work his land

All we are and all we have are given by his hand

And if I'm feeling weary – well, it's more than I dare show

He surely owns my body, and like as not my soul

Oh, oh, oh...

I light my master's bedroom fire and clean his robes of spate

Amuse upon the things I heard down at the village gate

They say we'll all be free men, with a piece of land for all

And when the war is over soon, tax on corn will fail

And over on the manor we can work a piece of soil

Buy the freedom from my lord, earned with honest toil

Well, I bet my children's children have a better life to come

They'll never know just what it's like to be owned by anyone

Oh, oh, oh...

And over on his manor we can work a piece of soil

Buy back freedom from my lord, earned with honest toil

Well, I bet my children's children have a better life to come

They'll never know just what it's like to be owned by anyone

Oh, oh, oh...