[Verse 1] At Forres court the news rides in on a horse with weary rein, Malcolm tells the king how Cawdor faced his end without complain, "Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it," he says, Cawdor died confessing, asking pardon, calm through his last days. [Chorus] "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" — that's the wish Macbeth will whisper while the whole court still admires, A face can lie sweeter than honey while the heart stays out of sight, Duncan trusts the smile he's given — watch how far he strays from right. [Verse 2] Duncan sighs, "There's no art to find the mind's construction in the face" — you can't read a traitor's shadow by the way he holds his grace, He trusted old Cawdor blindly, called him loyal, called him true, Then in walks brave Macbeth, bowing — a liege's grateful thank-you due. A liege, remember, just means lord, the king who's owed the vow, Duncan praises Macbeth and Banquo, warm and open now, But standing right behind that kindness, dressed in armor, clean and bright, Walks the traitor nobody's named yet, smiling in the light. [Chorus] "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" — the line that lights the long dark road this whole play slowly requires, A face can lie sweeter than honey while the heart stays out of sight, Duncan trusts the smile he's given — watch how far he strays from right. [Verse 3] Then Duncan names his son as heir, young Malcolm takes the crown-in-waiting, "Prince of Cumberland" — the title marking Scotland's heir in waiting, Macbeth feels it land like a stone dropped straight into his chest, That's a rung upon the ladder that he wanted for himself the best. He must fall down or o'erleap it — leap clean over like a wall, Ride ahead now as harbinger, the voice who announces all, To tell the house at Inverness the king's own feet will stay, Smiling host, while in his mind he plots to send the king away. [Bridge] Stars, hide your fires, let not light see what his eyes conceal, Black and deep desires wrapped inside a loyal kneel, The eye winks at the hand — he hides the wish behind a bow, Night is learning how to lie, and we're watching it start now. [Chorus] "Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires" — that's Macbeth's own private vow while the torches light the choirs, A face can lie sweeter than honey while the heart stays out of sight, Duncan trusts the smile he's given — watch how far he strays from right. [Outro] Remember Cawdor's story: a traitor's last breath can still seem brave, Remember Duncan's kindness, the trust he kept giving away, Stars, hide your fires — the play has only just begun, One scene of smiles and daggers waiting underneath the sun.
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