The coldest winter in memory was 1709 

The sea froze off the coast of France all along the Neptune line 

By the lost town of Dunwich the shore was washed away 

They say you hear the church bells still as they toll beneath the waves 



Come all you earthly princes, wheresoever you may be 

From the Sun King in the court of France to the Czar in Muscovy 

Take heed of Charles of Sweden, the Lion of the North, 

On the cracked earth of summer with his army he goes forth 



Guardian angels wherever you may be, 

reach down and keep my soul for me 



I was there amongst that number, I heard the trumpets strain 

I saw the host of banners spread across the Polish plain 

Those who stood against us, they soon were swept away 

They may have the numbers but it's Charles shall have the day 



We cut our way through forests, crossed on frozen streams 

They fell away before us like a murmur in a dream 

And they burned the land around us as snow was closing in 

And the arms of winter took us as we fired against the wind 



Guardian angels wherever you may be, 

reach down and keep my soul for me 



Through all the courts of Europe there's a rumor from the East 

The kings have come to battle and it's Charles who's known defeat 

They'll shake their heads and wonder at how this came to be 

But it's nights without a shelter that have made an end for me 



Now Charles is fled to Turkey, left his men afar 

And they'll be marched through Moscow now as prisoners of the Czar 

And had I but known last summer what I know understand 

I'd have never set my foot inside this bleak and bitter land 



Guardian angels wherever you may be, 

reach down and keep my soul for me 



The coldest winter in memory was 1709 

The sea froze off the coast of France all along the Neptune line 

By the lost town of Dunwich the shore was washed away 

They say you hear the church bells still as they toll beneath the waves