Meat Shield

Between danger and every other member of the company standeth one fighter whose reliability has become nearly invisible. The wizard is praised for brilliance, the rogue for cunning, the bard for charm, and the cleric for compassion; the fighter is congratulated chiefly for remaining upright.

What begins as a joke about an adventuring role gradually reveals the melancholy of a man treated more as a durable resource than a companion. Darrin Steelheart’s weathered performance allows humor and heartbreak to share the same melody, until the fighter’s quiet observation—that no one thought to ask him first—lands as both the saddest and funniest truth in the song.

Among all the songs upon this collection, I suspect none surprised me more than this one. What began as a jest concerning the fighter’s thankless role gradually revealed itself to be something altogether more melancholy. Every adventuring company dependeth upon the steadfast soul who standeth between danger and everyone else, yet such constancy is so reliable that it quickly becometh invisible. The wizard is praised for brilliance, the rogue for cunning, the bard for charm, and the cleric for compassion. The fighter is congratulated for remaining upright. I wished to give voice to the quiet sorrow of a man who hath become so dependable that those around him scarcely remember he possesseth feelings beyond the capacity to endure another blow. His final observation—that no one thought to ask the fighter first—struck me as both the saddest and the funniest line in the piece.

I entrusted the performance to an Irish vocalist known as Darrin Steelheart—a name I do not for one moment believe to be genuine, though I shall permit him the dignity of keeping whatever truth it concealeth. He delivered the song with precisely the weathered warmth it required, allowing the humor and heartbreak to inhabit the same melody without either diminishing the other. One laugheth at the fighter’s misfortune, only to discover, a moment later, that one ought perhaps to apologize to every dependable soul who hath quietly carried heavier burdens than anyone ever thought to notice.