Song information On this page you can read the lyrics of the song That's How Every Empire Falls , by - John Prine. Song from the album Fair and Square EP, in the genre Release date: 25.04.2005
Record label: Oh Boy
Song language: English
That's How Every Empire Falls |
| He caught a train from Alexandria, just a broken man in flight |
| Runnin' scared with his devils, sayin' prayers all through the night |
| Oh but mercy can’t find him, not in the shadows where he calls |
| Forsakin' all his better angels: that’s how every empire falls |
| Bells ring out on Sunday morning like echoes from another time |
| All our innocence and yearning and sense of wonder left behind |
| Oh gentle hearts remember, What was that story? |
| Is it lost? |
| For when religion loses vision, that’s how every empire falls |
| He toasts his wife and all his family, the providence he brought to bear |
| They raise their glasses in his honor although this union they don’t share |
| A man who lives among them was still a stranger to them all |
| For when the heart is never open, that’s how every empire falls |
| Padlock the door and board the windows, put the people in the street |
| «It's just my job,» he says, «I'm sorry,» and draws a check, goes home to eat |
| But at night he tells his woman, «I know I hide behind the laws» |
| She says, «You're only taking orders»: that’s how every empire falls |
| A bitter wind blows through the country, a hard rain falls on the sea |
| If terror comes without a warning, there must be something we don’t see |
| What fire begets this fire? |
| Like torches thrown into the straw? |
| If no one asks, no one will answer: that’s how every empire falls |