| He caught a train from Alexandria
|
| Just a broken man in flight
|
| Running scared with all his devils
|
| Saying prayers all through the night
|
| Oh, but mercy can’t find him
|
| Not in the shadows where he calls
|
| Forsaking all his better angels
|
| That’s how every empire falls
|
| The 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
|
| «You know 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, then no one answers
|
| That’s how every empire falls |