Corb Lund - A Leader on Losing Control lyrics

I tried my best to stop them, yes, I tried to make them wait And I appealed to their decency show mercy on this day I issued them strong orders on pain of d**h and disarray But in the end they would not listen and raised their lances anyway Men of no account they were, their breeding crude and low With not a trace of wisdom, Grace or virtue in their souls Yet trained them long and hard I did to bend them to the crown To act as tools of justice, follow edict handed down You see these were not militia men, a-fighting for their homes Nor fathers, sons nor husbands, sire, but foreigners on loan Mercenary k**ers, career soldiers to a man Lashing out with vengeance one cannot accept or understand I could not instill the discipline 'twas duty to inspire And they responded in the end to instincts of the basest kind Now on my knee before you here, I drop my eyes in shame Albeit little consolation take my head for I'm to blame O, so spoke the leader on losing control