The Musical Legacy of Ozymandias

A Tribute to Percy Bysshe Shelley
In late 1817, as the British Museum prepared to receive the Egyptian statue fragment known as the Younger Memnon, poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was inspired to pen one of his greatest sonnets, Ozymandias, reflecting on the legacy of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II. In this powerful piece, Shelley delves into how time erodes even the mightiest rulers, reducing them to forgotten relics. This song pays tribute to Shelley's haunting vision, capturing the fleeting nature of life itself-a reminder that, in the vastness of the universe, human existence is but a faint echo, a fleeting moment of insignificance.
OZYMANDIAS
By Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said-"Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away."
A new music video every Friday morning!
E Minor
Lyrics:
Ancient ruins
Sand and stone
Silent echoes
All alone
Once a king
Now unknown
Crown's been lost
Overthrown
Look at my works ye mighty and despair!
I am Ozymandias, Ozymandias
History's debris
Desert whispers
Winds that sing
Faded glories
Signs of spring
Once he ruled
The mighty king
Now forgotten
Fleeting thing
Look at my works ye mighty and despair!
I am Ozymandias, Ozymandias
History's debris
Broken statues
Shattered dreams
Golden palace
Distant gleams
Pride has crumbled
Once supreme
Now in shadows
Lost its beam
Look at my works ye mighty and despair!
I am Ozymandias, Ozymandias
History's debris
Time relentless
None will spare
Mighty kingdoms
Thin as air
Fallen empires
Empty stare
Ozymandias
Forgotten there
Look at my works ye mighty and despair!
I am Ozymandias, Ozymandias
History's debris