Page type: lyric reference
Artist: The Mountain Goats
Canonical path: /the-mountain-goats/song-for-cleomenes
Related lyric paths: 6
Lyric guide
Song For Cleomenes
Read Song For Cleomenes lyrics by The Mountain Goats on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
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Curated by Ethan Walker
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Lyrics
Song For Cleomenes
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73 years before the advent of the christian era,
as rome was taking over any land within reach,
setting up proxy governmnents in the conquered lands,
there lived one such man given just such a job.
gaius verres. go.
a praetor held a position which operated on trust.
he was to govern instead of the emperor himself.
it was an easy easy privilege to abuse.
and verres did so.
he was the governor of agrigentum which we now know as sicily.
and he stole everything that wasn't nailed down,
took improper advantage of other men's wives.
the list goes on. trust me.
cicero wrote it all down.
at syracuse verres welcomed a band of pirates.
they all drank and danced and sang on the shore,
and when the husband of one of verres's paramours
came bringing a fleet of boats with him,
verius, clever, if diabolical, gave him a job.
and enlisted the pirates to burn the whole fleet down.
the boats burned in the sicilian harbor
the flames rose hundreds of feet into the air
we stood on the shore watching them burn we stood
on the shore, we heard the old songs. hey!
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Who performs "Song For Cleomenes"?
The Mountain Goats performs "Song For Cleomenes", and this lyric page sits inside the The Mountain Goats catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "Song For Cleomenes"?
Yes. The related section below points to Standard Bitter Love Song #1 and There Will Be No Divorce with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by The Mountain Goats?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through The Mountain Goats's lyric pages.
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