King of Buckets

rinyville

I’ve made three different versions of this song, but I think I like this one the most.

Lyrics:

She was stunningly pretty but confined to her throne
Her beauty was praised but her feelings unknown
To the peasants and paupers, the burghers and guilds
An expert with a dagger and with a sword she was skilled
He was incredibly handsome and free like a bird
Adored for his laughter and the choice of his words
Unknown to the princes, the kings and the queens
Just a beggar in ballads yet a fine man of means

When the queen stared in mirrors
In search for a pimple
The king collected buckets
To lead a stale life so simple
The peasant just laughed and
Made one joke too many
The king said your life is not worth
A nickel or penny

He was down in the dungeon, restraint like a beast
While the king and the queen prepared for the feast
‘tis the crime not the scaffold which causes the shame
Still he’ll be hanged in the gallows, for a joke he’s been blamed
When she laid eyes upon him she fell like the snow
From the sky and she pleaded to just let him go
The king loved his princess and could not deny
Her three appealing words and the tear she had cried

When the queen stared in mirrors
In search for a pimple
The king collected buckets
To lead a stale life so simple
The peasant unshackled
left with demands
To get rid of mosquitoes
Quickly from the quick sands

Off to the marshes, off to the swamps he did go
To get rid of mosquitoes but how he did not know
He there met the gnome who said I’ll help you dear friend
For three buckets of gold and the princess’ right hand
But the princess had followed the peasant, so handsome
She whispered she’d free him from the gnome’s bad ransom
The dwarf drained the swamps by just pulling the plug
She took out her dagger and stabbed it in the short thug

And the queen stared in mirrors
In search for a pimple
The king collected buckets
To lead a stale life so simple
The mosquitoes, the gnome
Now were dead, now were gone
The peasant kissed the princess
But the story’s not done

Back they went to the castle to talk to the king
The princess’ left hand needed a wedding ring
Pleased with the peasant now the insects were gone
The king kneeled and admitted he had been wrong
He offered the peasant three buckets of gold
And the hand of his daughter, hoped they would grow old
But return those three buckets, the king said or you’ll be damned
For you might be a peasant but the King of Buckets I am

The queen still stares in mirrors
In search for a pimple
The king still collects buckets
To lead a stale life so simple
The peasant still laughs
Cause by making one joke too many
He won the heart of his princess
to live a life full of plenty