The Thirty-Four Counts

In a New York room of faded gold A story for the ages to be told A former king, with hair of fire Stood facing down the people's ire For payments made in hush of night To keep a secret from the light Twelve silent faces, plain and true Weighed the old tale and made it new Oh, the jury's voice, a heavy sound Thirty-four times the count was found

Guilty, the whisper, then the shout Leaving no single room for doubt The wheel of fortune spins and falls And history echoes in the halls A chapter closed, a new one penned But this old story has no end The news it flew on wires and waves To cheering crowds and solemn graves Half the land cried, 'Justice won!' Beneath the cold Manhattan sun

The other half, they cursed the stain And swore they'd raise him up again Now they wait for a July day To hear the final price he'll pay This traveling singer's seen it all The rise of pride, the stunning fall I've seen the crowns and courts and pleas Carried on the prairie breeze The names all change, the flags they fly But power's a gleam in a mortal's eye

And the people's voice, a rising tide Has nowhere left for kings to hide Oh, the jury's voice, a heavy sound Thirty-four times the count was found Guilty, the whisper, then the shout Leaving no single room for doubt The wheel of fortune spins and falls And history echoes in the halls A chapter closed, a new one penned But this old story has no end