You Will Burn
Steeleye Span formed in 1969 from members of Fairport Convention and out of… Read Full Bio ↴Steeleye Span formed in 1969 from members of Fairport Convention and out of the ashes of Sweeney's Men creating a distinctive fusion of both British folk with electric rock music. The resulting first version of the band was formed by ex-Fairport bassist Ashley Hutchings and built around two pairs of vocalists, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior and Gay & Terry Woods. Rhythm was to be supplied largely by Hutchings' bass, and without drums.

Tensions between the band grew during the production in 1970 of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait to the point where they never again worked together after its completion, but the music itself shows no signs of these difficulties. While having a rock sensibility there is a greater sense of the authentic folk tradition than even in the best of Fairport, and a particular beauty arising from the two pairs of voices. The Woods being replaced by admired folk stalwart Martin Carthy, with violinist Peter Knight to widen the musical textures, the group late in 1970 recorded their most admired record Please to see the King. Ten Man Mop followed in 1971, more accomplished but generally felt to be less exciting. The expensive gatefold sleeve swallowed the band's royalties, and was referred to as a tombstone, since Hutchings and Carthy then left, to pursue Hutchings' new vision of a specifically English strand of folk rock with The Albion Band, and Steeleye Mk 2 folded.

However the inclusion of the less celebrated and more rock orientated replacements Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson led to the most commercially successful phase in the band's existence, vocalist Maddy Prior becoming the primary focus of the band, and a run of well received albums, from Below the Salt and Now we Are Six, their first with drummer Nigel Pegrum, to their eighth, and most commercially successful, All Around my Hat, in 1975.

Still active, they have a claim to be one of the longest-lived and perhaps the most commercially successful of all the folk rock bands of the era, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat, 3 top 40 albums and even a certified "gold" record with All Around My Hat.

Tim Hart died of lung cancer on 24 December 2009, aged 61.

You Will Burn
Steeleye Span Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

One night as you sleep in your goose feather bed
We will be kneeling at your bedside
We'll pray for your soul like the good Lord said
Let all be forgiven let none be denied

Then one night as you sleep in your goose feather bed
We will be standing at your bedside
Your bones will be broken and your blood will be shed
Your eyes will be taken and your hands will be tied

Then we'll take you to the forest
Where none will hear your cry
And we'll cut down the Sycamore and Broom
And it's there we will forgive you
And it's there we'll watch you die
Like a dancing silhouette against the moon

And you will burn, you will burn
We will purify your soul in the fire, in the fire
And your spirit will live forever
It will rise, it will rise
From the ashes and the embers in your eyes, in your eyes
And your spirit will live forever

Praise the Lord
Another soul is saved
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord

One night as you sleep in your goose feather bed
We will be kneeling at your bedside
We'll pray for your soul like the good Lord said
Let all be forgiven let none be denied

Then one night as you sleep in your goose feather bed
We will be standing at your bedside
Your home will be burning and your child will be dead
Your eyes will be taken and your hands will be tied

Then we'll take you to the forest
Where none will hear your cry
And we'll cut down the Sycamore and Broom
And it's there we will forgive you
And it's there we'll watch you die
Like a dancing silhouette against the moon

And you will burn, you will burn
We will purify your soul in the fire, in the fire
And your spirit will live forever
It will rise, it will rise
From the ashes and the embers in your eyes, in your eyes
And your spirit will live forever

Praise the Lord
Another soul is saved
Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord

Praise the Lord
Another soul is saved




Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Steeleye Span’s “You Will Burn” are highly evocative and could be interpreted in several ways. A possible explanation for this song could be that it speaks about a group of people seeking revenge on someone who had wronged them in the past. The opening lines of the song describe the perpetrators as kneeling beside the victim’s bed, praying for their forgiveness, which could suggest that they had a change of heart or an attempted reconciliation. However, the following verses describe the brutal and violent fate of the victim, where they burned to purify their spirit and live forever. This ambiguous mix of forgiveness and revenge makes the song all the more intriguing.


Another interpretation of this song could be read as a religious allegory or a form of divine intervention where a person who has done wrong will be punished but still granted absolution by the higher power. This interpretation can be seen in the way the song describes the victim’s murder and their subsequent rise from the ashes and embers to be reborn. “You Will Burn” could therefore be seen as a dramatic morality tale filled with symbolism.


Line by Line Meaning

One night as you sleep in your goose feather bed
As you rest comfortably, we will be present at your bedside


We'll pray for your soul like the good Lord said
We'll invoke blessings upon your soul as per religious teachings


Let all be forgiven let none be denied
May all sins be pardoned for you without exception


Your bones will be broken and your blood will be shed
You shall face a gruesome punishment involving bodily harm and bloodshed


Your eyes will be taken and your hands will be tied
Your sight will be taken away and your hands restrained


Then we'll take you to the forest
Following that, we'll transport you deep into the woods


Where none will hear your cry
So that nobody would hear your screams


And we'll cut down the Sycamore and Broom
We'll chop down the Sycamore and Broom trees


And it's there we will forgive you
At the spot where we killed you, we shall forgive you


And it's there we'll watch you die
We'll observe your death at that site


Like a dancing silhouette against the moon
Your lifeless body will become a shadowy figure amidst the moonlight


And you will burn, you will burn
We will immolate you as punishment


We will purify your soul in the fire, in the fire
We intend to purify your soul through this act of burning


And your spirit will live forever
Your soul will survive this ordeal


It will rise, it will rise
Your soul will ascend


From the ashes and the embers in your eyes, in your eyes
Your eyes will be teeming with ash and remnants of your burnt bones


Praise the Lord Another soul is saved Praise the Lord Praise the Lord
A religious chant expressing gratitude to God for a saved soul




Contributed by Anthony V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Ben - Moderator


on Bonny Moorhen

Hi Stuart, We have corrected the description above.

Stuart Tartan


on Bonny Moorhen

The song Bonny Moorhen by Steeleye Span is a traditional Scottish ballad that tells the story of a bird, the Bonny Moorhen, and its journey through the glen and over the sea. The narrator of the song expresses affection and admiration for the bird and asks others to toast its health when they are out drinking. The Bonny Moorhen is described as having a rainbow of feathers, including blue, which is unusual for a bird, and invites it to come to the narrator. However, in the second verse, the song takes a darker turn as the narrator reveals that the bird has gone over the sea and will not return until the summer. But when it does return, only certain people will know, suggesting that not everyone will be happy about the Bonny Moorhen's return. The third verse introduces a new element to the story, two men named Ronald and Donald who are out on the fen, presumably trying to hunt or harm the bird. The narrator calls for the Bonny Moorhen to come to them for safety. Overall, the song is a mix of admiration for the beauty of nature and a warning about the dangers that can lurk in it. The Bonny Moorhen represents something pure and innocent, but there are those who would try to harm it, and the song is a call to protect it.

This description of the song completely misses the point in every way. It IS NOT about a bird.
It is an allegorical Jacobite-era song about Bonny Prince Charlie (the bonny moorhen). The colours mentioned, for instance, are the colours of the Clan Stuart tartan.