This was the next track written after "Do You Want To Be A Dragon?" but the last to be completed and sat on the shelf for more than half a year with complete backing tracks but no vocals.
I knew what I wanted to do, it was supposed to be a majestic piece about a dragon lord and his attempt to save a town from another dragon who had gone rogue. But I wasn't sure how much of it should be about trying to reach the dragon lord, and how much of it was about him. And I was utterly failing to write any verses, though I'd had the chorus down pat for a while.
Originally I had also planned for there to be another song which finished the storyline, but as the weeks and months went by that clearly wasn't going to happen, so I finally ditched the verse structure and went for narration, same as with Evil Dragon, and ended up finishing the story within this song.
Parts which I had particular fun with were the strange time signature section, and the backwards part. Getting the multitrack to play in reverse while also having the vocals run forwards was quite an engineering challenge and meant reversing the tape with the vocals too so that they could be dubbed onto the multitrack and took many attempts before I got the timing right. Then I decided to add reverse reverb and had to do it all again...
This also needed a serious amount of very precise tape edits to get the reverse organ to cut into the forwards part seamlessly.
Another "interesting" thing was suddenly deciding the change the song ending to a major key instead of a minor one, after most of it had already been committed to tape. This meant rerecording about 20 backing tracks from the last available gap and hoping it didn't sound noticeably different.
lyrics
Dragon King
"The motley band had trekked for many days, past the borders of North Arcaia, seeking the capital of the mountainous realm of Taria. Dragons scouted ahead but could not bear heavy loads such as the tribute they had brought to renew the old alliance."
They seek the Dragon King of Taria
"Driving off brigands who sought to lighten their load, the heroes at last reached the plateau that they had sought. Tired and exhausted, they staggered to the city gates and begged for an audience with the realm’s mighty lord."
We seek the Dragon King of Taria
He who has wisdom from the beyond the furthest star
As was foretold in the Codex Draconica
"Bowing low in the great hall, the heroes told of the evil fate that had befallen Arcaia. Listening to their tale, the king fanned his mighty wings and the roof of the hall opened up for him to take flight."
All praise the Dragon King of Taria
"Through his arcane arts, the Dragon King vanished into the distance, flying faster than the scouts of Arcaia could hope to match. As the grey dragon torched yet another town, the King bared his claws and with a great roar, the two mighty dragons poised to do battle."
All praise the Dragon King of Taria
He who has wisdom from the beyond the furthest star
As was foretold in the Codex Draconica
"At last the grey dragon lay with a foot upon his throat as the Dragon King stared grimly into the eyes of his dread foe. One bite or blow from a dragon-blade was all it would take to sever the neck and end his evil forever."
All praise the Dragon King of Taria
"Yet the Dragon King saw that his foe merely sought justice for the wrongs of the dragonhunters who had slain his family. If that past could be undone, he would have no cause to turn rogue. The Dragon King uttered a mighty spell."
Thus spake the Dragon King of Taria
"Yet none would know of the Dragon King’s victory nor of the grey dragon’s sin, save in dreams of a past that had never happened."
He who has wisdom from the beyond the furthest star
As was foretold in the Codex Draconica
All praise the Dragon King of Taria
All praise the Dragon King of Taria
The hard-hitting, genre-agnostic songs on the latest from Dan Webb were inspired by conversations he had with a wide range of musicians. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 18, 2023
With their blend of playfulness and graduate-level instrumentation, Dorcha deftly prove that improvisational zeal and conservatory-level precision aren't mutually exclusive. Bandcamp Album of the Day Nov 16, 2020
Post-Worthless, Annique Monet makes solo LP of magical, psychedelic pop songs that drift in and out of consciousness. Bandcamp New & Notable May 22, 2015
