Every Bloody Emperor

By this we are all sustained: a belief in human nature

And in justice and parity...all we have is the faith to carry on.

Imperceptible the change as our votes become mere gestures

And our lords and masters determine to cast us

In the roles of serfs and slaves

In the new empire's name.

Yes and every bloody emperor claims that freedom is his cause

As he buffs up on his common touch as a get-out clause.

Unto nations nations speak in the language of the gutter;

Trading primetime insults the imperial impulse

Extends across the screen.

Truth's been beaten to its knees; the lies embed ad infinitum

Till their repetition becomes a dictum

We're traitors to disbelieve.

With what impotence we grieve for the democratic process

As our glorious leaders conspire to feed us

The last dregs of imperious disdain

In the new empire's name.

Yes and every bloody emperor's got his hands up history's skirt

As he poses for posterity over the fresh-dug dirt.

Yes and every bloody emperor with his sickly rictus grin

Talks his way out of nearly anything but the lie within

Because every bloody emperor thinks his right to rule divine

So he'll go spinning and spinning and spinning into his own decline.

Imperceptible the change as one by one our voices falter

And the double standards of propaganda

Still all our righteous rage.

By this we are all sustained: our belief in human nature.

But our faith diminishes - close to the finish,

We're only serfs and slaves

As the empire decays.