The music of Pern is an amazing mix of ballads, teaching songs, poems, and short ditties that are easy to remember. The most popular songs are often those that can be sung by ordinary people with only modest skill.
Here are lyrics to several traditional songs.
Song Lyrics and Poetry
Classic Songs of Pern
Chorus of the Alarm Song
Drummer, beat, Piper, blow,
Harper, strike, Soldier, go,
Free the flame and sear the grasses
Till the dawning Red Star passes.
From the Weyr and from the Bowl,
Bronze and brown and blue and green,
Rise the dragonmen of Pern,
Aloft, on wing; seen, then unseen.
Golden Egg of Faranth
By the Golden Egg of Faranth,
By the Weyrwoman, wise and true,
Breed a flight of bronze and brown wings,
Breed a flight of green and blue.
Breed riders strong and daring,
Dragon-loving, born as hatched.
Flight of hundreds soaring skyward,
Man and dragon fully matched.
The Honor Song
Honor those the dragons heed,
In thought and favor, word and deed.
Worlds are lost and worlds are saved
From those dangers dragon-braved.
Dragonman, avoid excess;
Greed will bring the Weyr distress;
To the ancient Laws adhere,
Prospers thus the Dragon Weyr.
The Fallen Rider
The tears I feel today
I’ll wait to shed tomorrow,
Though I’ll not sleep this night
Nor find surcease from sorrow.
My eyes must keep their sight
I dare not be tear-blinded,
I must be free to speak
And ride the wing clear-minded.
My tongue can not betray
The anguish that I know,
I’ll keep my tears ’til later
But my grief will never go.
The Mating Song
Rise in glory,
Bronze and gold.
Dive entwined,
Enhance the hold.
Count three months and more,
And five heated weeks,
A day of glory,
In a month, who seeks?
A strand of silver
In the sky…
With heat, all quickens,
And all riders fly.
Red Star Passes
Seas boil and mountains move,
Sands heat, dragons prove,
Red Star passes.
Stones pile and fires burn,
Green withers, arm Pern.
Guard all passes.
Star Stone watch, scan sky.
Ready the Weyrs, all Riders fly.
Red Star passes.
Fighting Thread
Wheel and turn
or bleed and burn.
Fly between,
Blue and green.
Soar, dive down,
Bronze and brown.
Dragonmen must fly
When threads are in the sky.
Watch and Learn
Weyrman, watch; Weyrman, learn,
Something new in every Turn.
Oldest may be coldest, too.
Sense the right; find the true!
Holder, watch; Holder, learn,
Something new in every Turn.
Oldest may be coldest too.
Sense the right; find the true!
The Guardian
Watch-wher, watch-wher,
In your lair,
Watch well, watch-wher!
Who goes there?
Dragonman, Dragonman,
Between thee and thine,
Share me that glimpse of love
Greater than mine.
The Eye
The Finger points,
At an Eye blood-red.
Alert the Weyrs,
To sear the Thread.
Solemn Harp
Harper your song has a sorrowful sound,
Though the tune was written as gay.
Your voice is sad and your hands are slow,
And your eye, meeting mine, turns away.
Eastern Seahold
The fickle wind’s my foe,
With tide his keen ally.
They’re jealous of my sea’s love,
And rouse her with their lies.
O sweet sea, O dear sea,
Heed not their stormy wile.
But bear me safely to my hold,
And from their watery trial.
Campaign Songs
Last Sweet Day
Sung by Kebrin at Fort Hold Gather, Autumn 1,252
Chapter 1, Episode 3.4, “Accidental Zealots”
This morning early I walked on
While my dragon was in a dream
The last sweet days of summer bloomed
And cloaked the trees in green
Then rising high in the gleaming sky
Between the stones we set
Came a fearsome gray from so far away
And the Red Star’s ancient threat
So I called my men to follow me
Knowing well that the view was dim
Though tired and worn, our Weyrmen fought all morn
As Thread was closing in
And my heart was heavy though full of pride
For brave men all were they
As the dragons fly, how they climbed so high
At the dawning of the day
But the edge was moving faster still
All silvery in the sun
Their unyielding hearts calling out to us
My riders, one by one
Escaped their scores in the endless cold
Returning to the Fall
Flaming dragons dove and the ashes burned
Above Weyr and Hold and Hall
Forgive me my love, I’m going now
To join my men between
When the dragons fly, you’ll feel me near
And hear me in their keen
There’s no need to grieve us when we are gone
We live in memory
‘Til the Red Star’s end and we meet again
Far beyond the western sea
This morning early I walked on
While my dragon was in a dream
The last sweet days of summer bloomed
And cloaked the trees in green
‘Til the Red Star’s end and we meet again
Far beyond the western sea
Say Goodbye
Sung by Master Karthen, Chapter 1, Winter 1,253
Ruatha River Hold after the quake and great flood.
From the roof of my cothold
I watched as the waves
Grabbed ahold of my family
And took them away
When the rescuer found me
I sat down in shame
Told him how the sea stole them
But left me in pain
I had been their protector
A father of three
A husband and a brother
A man of the sea
And he said
Life’s always changing, nothing stays the same
Tragedies befall us and no one is to blame
Come let me help you, it’s okay to cry
You’ll find hope tomorrow but today you’ll say goodbye
From the porch of my workshop
I felt the ground heave
Boulders fell on my children
And crushed them beneath
In my mind I still see them
My heart says they’re near
I would give up my last Mark
If they could be here
I was broken and wounded
I mourned for the past
I held my wife and promised
These dark times won’t last
And she said
Life’s always changing, nothing stays the same
Tragedies befall us and no one is to blame
Come let me help you, it’s okay to cry
We’ll find hope tomorrow but today we’ll say goodbye
Though the oceans rise up and
The mountains fall down
The buildings are broken and
The herdbeasts have drown
You won’t face this alone and
There’s help all around…
And we say
Life’s always changing, nothing stays the same
Tragedies befall us and no one is to blame
There’s so much to do but we just have to try
We’ll find hope tomorrow but today we’ll say goodbye
Azure Wings
Sung by Master Jeralan at Keroon, Autumn 1,260
Kebrin and Toria’s farewell party, Chapter 3
Azure wings
Shimmer in the sunlight
Roaring dragons
Headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away
And leaving me lonely
Azure wings
Quickly soaring out of sight
Don’t leave me, I cried
Don’t take that dragon ride
But the Weyr asked you to stand
Find your fate upon the sand
You’re going to miss me
But one day you will see
The dragons never choose wrong
And the Weyr must remain strong
Azure wings
Shimmer in the sunlight
Roaring dragons
Headed somewhere in flight
They’re taking you away
And leaving me lonely
Azure wings
Quickly soaring out of sight
Sorka’s Song
OOC music for the vision of the first Pern hatching
caused by the Dark Key at Ista Weyr, Spring 1,264
“Star Sky” by Two Steps From Hell
Here we are, riding the sky
Painting the night with sun
You and I, mirrors of light
Twin flames of fire
Lit in another time and place
I knew your name
I knew your face
Your love and grace
Past and present now embrace
Worlds collide in inner space
Unstoppable, the song we play
Burn the page for me
I cannot erase the time of sleep
I cannot be loved so set me free
I cannot deliver your love or caress your soul so
Turn that page for me
I cannot embrace the touch that you give
I cannot find solace in your words
I cannot deliver you your love
Or caress your soul
Age to age, I feel the call
Memory of future dreams
You and I, riding the sky
Keeping the fire bright
From another time and place
I know your name
I know your face
Your touch and grace
All of time cannot erase
What our hearts remember stays
Forever on a song we play
The Tunings of High Hill
Seasons
The seasons command like tyrants
The summer’s fire, the winter’s silence
Between them, blinding rain
And the sorrow of the leafless tree
Sail Away
Show me the stars and I’ll follow
Through thundrous roar and blackest gyre
To sandy shores and broken crags
A land untouched by dragonfire
Liberation
Close your eyes and grieve silently
For desires twisted into schemes
Emerge from unbroken darkness
To liberation born of dreams
On the promise of golden wings
Fly away from your fettered past
A false sunrise of dragonflame
Will let this battle be your last
Wings of Gold
The golden firelizard
At the breaking light of dawn
Used blazing stars to guide her
Let their sparkle urge her on
Three bright stars refused to dance
As the night turned into day
So the queen sought out their secrets
While a skybolt led the way
She crossed the stormy ocean
Her eyes whirling fire bright
Against the fiercest Autumn winds
That wrestled against her flight
Her tiny wings grew weary
On her quest to cross the miles
The sun hid in the Western sky
When she found the outcast isles
The young queen’s trill was joyful
As she soared above the beach
She found a hollow in the cliff
Where the seacrest couldn’t reach
Far above the savage waves
As she rested on her claim
She could see the fiery arrow
Set the brazier’s coals aflame
In the amber glow of dawn
She forgot the urge to roam
With a leap and a pop between
The dainty gold queen went home