The Blood and the Bone (Te Kiri Whakairo)

Style: Dark Nordic Folk / Underworld Ritual Chant Instrumentation: The slow, wet dripping of water in a deep cave, a heavy, suffocating Tagelharpa drone, and the relentless, sharp TAP-TAP-TAP of a wooden mallet striking a bone chisel. Vocal Style: A sorrowful, regretting male vocal that shifts into heavy, pained exhales, backed by a slow, mocking, and eventually reverent underworld choir.

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Lyrics

(Intro) (The hollow, echoing sound of water dripping in a deep cave: Plip... Plip...) (A low, mournful Tagelharpa drone begins: 'Ooooooh...') (Whispered, echoing chant, sounding like voices from the shadows) Mah-tah-oh-rah... (Mataora - The Mortal Chief) Nee-wah-reh-kah... (Niwareka - The Fairy Wife) Rah-row-heh-ngah... (Rarohenga - The Underworld) (Verse 1) (Slow, heavy heartbeat drum enters: THUD... ... THUD... ...) The paint is heavy on the mortal face A bitter hand and a fallen grace The pale wife vanishes into the deep Where the ancient fires of the fathers sleep He walks the shadow and the blinding dark To find the spirit and to leave a mark But the sweat is falling and the tears are shed To wash the color from the weeping head. (Chorus) (The rhythmic, sharp Tap-Tap-Tap of a mallet on bone begins) (Full choir of deep voices chanting with a mocking, heavy tone) Too-hee! (Tuhi - Painted/Temporary illusion) The water washes the illusion away! Too-hee! The mortal color will never stay! Tah Moe-koe! (Tā Moko - The carved tattoo) The bone is sharp and the ink is deep! Tah Moe-koe! A bleeding promise that the flesh will keep! (Verse 2) (Music drops to a pulsing drone. The sound of a hand wiping wet clay off skin.) Oo-eh-toe-ngah (Uetonga - The Underworld King) wipes the mortal clean To show the coward that hides unseen You wear the shadow but you feel no pain Your mask is melting in the underworld rain Bring the Oo-hee (Uhi - The bone chisel) and the heavy wood To carve the spirit where the weakness stood To win the maiden and to pay the toll We strike the skin and we carve the soul. (Bridge) (Acapella. Just the brutal CRACK... CRACK... CRACK of the mallet and heavy, pained breathing: Hssss... Hah!) Toe-toe! (Toto - Blood) The ink is falling in the open line! Toe-toe! The pain is heavy but the breath is mine! Ah-row-hah! (Aroha - Love/Devotion) I take the fire and I bare the bone! Ah-row-hah! I will not walk the upper world alone! (Chorus) (Maximum volume, huge wall of sound with crashing percussion and roaring, respectful voices) Too-hee! The water washes the illusion away! Too-hee! The mortal color will never stay! Tah Moe-koe! The bone is sharp and the ink is deep! Tah Moe-koe! A bleeding promise that the flesh will keep! (Outro) (The heavy percussion suddenly stops) (Only the low drone and the rhythmic dripping of water remain) (Spoken in a deep, exhausted, but triumphant whisper) The face is carved. The spirit is bound. Ow-tay-ah-row-ah... (A single, final strike of the bone chisel: TAP!)