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Click on the ‘Play’ button above to hear the song and read the lyrics below. If the player doesn’t start straight away, wait and then press the ‘Play’ button again.
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The King’s Shilling is an original song written, produced and with lyrics by Paul Robert Thomas with music exclusively commercially licensed to Paul from the album Some Folk
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The King’s Shilling is available to download on Bandcamp HERE
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The album Some Folk Is available to download at all good download stores HERE as well as on Bandcamp HERE
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This is a beautifully melancholic and hauntingly evocative lyric that captures that authentic, bittersweet essence of traditional English folk ballads perfectly—the kind of song that sounds sweet on the surface but carries a heavy, tragic undertone.
“The King’s Shilling” is a tragic folk ballad that tells the story of a secret, forbidden romance between a powerful Monarch and a humble maid-in-waiting.
The Forbidden Romance: The song opens with the maid’s deep devotion to her King, whom she views with absolute reverence. They share a clandestine affair, with the King visiting her “like a thief in the night” to avoid detection, actively betraying his Queen to be with her.
As a symbol of his affection, the King gives the maid a shilling, promising “God willing, it will grow and grow.” Because their love must remain hidden from the royal court, she refrains from wearing it openly, fashioning it into a locket but keeping it concealed in her pocket.
The King eventually stops his nightly visits, leaving the maid entirely abandoned. Her initial joy turns to deep grief, regret, and a “tormented soul” as she realizes she has been cast aside.
The final stanzas reveal a powerful, tragic double meaning behind the King’s promise that the shilling would “grow.” The secret can no longer be hidden: the maid has given birth to the King’s illegitimate child. The song concludes with the shilling locket finally out of her pocket and hung around the baby’s neck—a public testament to their forbidden love and her permanent ruin.
What makes the lyrics work so well is the clever use of traditional folk motifs:
“The King’s Shilling” historically refers to the coin given to military recruits, a token of binding oneself to the crown (often leading to tragedy). You’ve brilliantly subverted this into a token of romantic and physical bondage.
The Weeping Willow imagery subtly foreshadows the grief to come.
The Double Entendre of the shilling “growing” is a fantastic, classic folk-style metaphor for pregnancy that hits heavily at the end.
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The King’s Shilling Lyrics
Oh sweet Lord with your eyes of blue
Like Robin’s eggs Da Vinci once drew
You are her hope her Master to be
She will forever bow and serve thee
Who is she but a maid-in-waiting
Your kindness she is anticipating
When you call her ‘Your little white dove’
How her cup runneth over with love
Runneth over with love
Runneth over with love
The King gave her a shilling
He said “God willing,
It will grow and grow”
She made it into a locket
But kept it in her pocket
A symbol of their love she could not show
He comes to her like a thief in the night
And is gone before the morning light
Washes the darkness away
He must return to his world
And forget about this poor girl
Oh how she wishes he could stay
She prays unto heaven up above
That her cup will forever runneth over with his love
Runneth over with his love
Runneth over with his love
He left his shilling under her pillow
That is stitched with weeping willows
As he stroked her brow with his glove
For her love he has betrayed his queen
When he comes to her in the night unseen
Cloaked by the darkness of sinful love
Her cup runneth over with his love
Runneth over with his love
Runneth over with his love
But now he comes no more
In the night no one knocks at her door
Her cup is empty and dry
She has no more tears left to cry
Her tormented soul cannot forget
How he left her with nothing but regret
His shilling’s no longer in her pocket
It’s hung round their baby’s neck for all to see in a locket
The King gave her a shilling
He said “God willing,
It will grow and grow”
The King gave her a shilling
He said “God willing,
It will grow and grow”
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Paul Robert Thomas PRS No. 497904008 (London)
PRS Tunecode: 027525MA * ISWC: T-340.970.479-2
Audiosparx Catalogue ID: 1423063 * US5UL2651419
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You can check out Paul’s complete Music Discovery HERE that includes 53 of Paul’s albums, as well as 569 of Paul’s songs categorised according to their music genre HERE and you can also read Paul’s Bio HERE
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Take a tour of Paul’s music site at www.paullyrics.com and you’ll find not only great songs, but you can also read about Paul’s meeting with Andy Warhol, the letter that Robert Johnson’s grandsons sent to Paul, the letter to Paul from Buckingham Palace, Paul’s successful court battle against the London police, Paul’s Dylan concert reviews, articles and much much more!
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