– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

History, tragedy, glamour and horror.

It's all in the history of the Tower of London.

It used to be a castle, but then became a prison.

Kings and Queens lived here in honour or horror.

Some of them were even beheaded.

It's a place where precious jewels are kept safe and where

old traditions and superstitions are still alive.

I'm Yeoman Warder Ryan Barnett.

I'm one of 35 Yeoman Warders who work here at the Tower of London.

So welcome to this gruesome and historic place.

I'm going to tell you a few facts about the Tower of London today.

The Tower of London holds 1,000 years of history as well as

the Crown Jewels.

Here you'll find St. Edward's Crown, which was used at the coronation of

King Charles III in 2023.

You can look at the royal treasures, but for security reasons,

photos are prohibited.

That's why we're not allowed to film inside.

Inside we've got two of the largest diamonds in the world, incorporated

within our crown jewels and more regalia.

There's over a hundred items, over 23,000 precious stones.

So the crown jewels are priceless.

We can't put a monetary value on them.

It's the symbolisation, the historical and cultural element of

the crown jewels.

It also shows the power and responsibilities our monarchs have.

The tower also has a gruesome history.

Six people were beheaded here.

Did you know that one of them was a queen?

Henry VIII had his wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, beheaded here.

Anne Boleyn, when she was found guilty of treason

and she was sentenced to death,

she had a great fear of the axe.

So she wrote a letter to King Henry VIII

pleading that she would be executed in the French manner.

The French manner back then was using a two-handed sword.

So Henry VIII called for a skilled swordman from Calais

to carry out the execution with

a two-handed sword.

Not only were death sentences carried out in the tower, the structure was

often used as a prison or dungeon.

But not all prisoners received the same treatment.

English statesman and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh spent 13 years

in the so-called "Bloody Tower" before he was finally executed.

Some prisoners had extra luxuries, perks,

were allowed visitors — they were allowed guests.

Sir Walter Raleigh had a garden outside.

He grew his own plants and spices and herbs, and he created a lot of

medicines while he was here.

Some prisoners were not treated as fairly as others.

But Sir Walter Raleigh did have a lot of luxuries while he was a prisoner here.

Did you know that the tower was already a kind of zoo in

the Middle Ages?

It held animals from all over the world.

Lions, monkeys and even a polar bear.

Such exotic gifts were popular among monarchs at the time.

They also attracted visitors to the tower early on.

This elephant was given as a gift by the king of France in

the 13th century.

Now, he'd never seen an elephant before in his country, and it was

given to one of our young pages to look after.

Now this young page had never seen an elephant before,

didn't know what it would eat or drink.

He knew his master loved

drinking wine and eating bread.

So that is what he fed our elephant.

He had a diet of wine and bread.

Unfortunately the elephant died from a very bad diet.

Probably died very happy, but he died all the same.

Even today, the Tower is more than a museum.

All 35 Yeoman Warders, who are also nicknamed "Beefeaters", live in the

Tower along with their families.

But can they really come and go as they please outside of

their working hours?

So that is quite tricky.

So we have the ceremony of the keys every night at 10 p.m. when the

gates get locked.

There is a secret entrance we can get in or out of.

We are not prisoners, we can come and go as we please,

but we need to make sure that people know

we are going out and will be returning later.

The Yeoman Waters aren't the only inhabitants of this London tower —

there's also ravens!.

These birds are fed treats, including dead mice and blood soaked cookies

to keep them happy.

The story of their presence here is full of superstitions.

There's this old superstition or legend with the ravens that if the

ravens were ever to leave the Tower of London, then the White Tower, this

building behind me, will crumble into dust and the monarchy shall fall.

So to ensure that doesn't happen, King Charles II made a law,

a decree, back in 1675 that we must keep six ravens here at all times.

Not that we believe in superstitions and legends.

The law says we must keep six ravens here.

We have seven.

We always have spare, just in case.

So, would you like to visit the Tower of London?

This historic building certainly has many more stories to tell.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
history /ˈhɪstəri/ A2	noun - the study of past events
castle /ˈkæsəl/ A2	noun - a large fortified building
prison /ˈprɪzən/ A2	noun - a place where people are confined as punishment
behead /bɪˈhɛd/ B1	verb - to cut off someone's head
precious /ˈprɛʃəs/ A2	adjective - of great value
tradition /trəˈdɪʃən/ A2	noun - a long-established custom
superstition /ˌsuːpərˈstɪʃən/ B1	noun - a belief in supernatural forces
gruesome /ˈɡruːsəm/ B2	adjective - causing horror or disgust
regalia /rɪˈɡeɪliə/ C1	noun - symbols of royalty
priceless /ˈpraɪslɪs/ B1	adjective - so valuable that it cannot be priced
symbolization /ˌsɪmbəlɪˈzeɪʃən/ C1	noun - the act of representing something with a symbol
treason /ˈtriːzən/ B2	noun - betrayal of one's country
execute /ˈɛksɪkjuːt/ B1	verb - to kill as a punishment
luxury /ˈlʌkʃəri/ B1	noun - a state of great comfort
exotic /ɪɡˈzɒtɪk/ B2	adjective - originating in a distant country
superstition /ˌsuːpərˈstɪʃən/ B1	noun - a belief in supernatural forces
decree /dɪˈkriː/ B2	noun - an official order