Empire

LYRICS:

Intro 

(instrumental)

The Rules of the Game

If you’ve got a clever hand
You will never need a man
It’s trick or trade
Then twist the blade

If your eyes are open wide
You get to see what you can find
First keep them peeled
Then seal the deal

If they come to take you, you just turn your head and pray
Duck into the crowd and melt until you fade away

Set it up and knock it down
Let the top spin round and round
You never know which way it goes

Load the deck and deal the hand
They devil knows just where you stand
The odds are stacked he’s got your back

If they come to take you, you just turn your head and pray
Duck into the crowd and melt until you fade away
If you want to stay free, then just listen to me
The rules of the game never change

Your self-respect it cannot sway
If a little man must have his way
Just make him pay, day by day

The bargain is your luck holds fast
As long as you outwit your past
The quicker you go, the less that they’ll know

If they come to take you, you just turn your head and pray
Duck into the crowd and melt until you fade away
If you want to stay free, then just listen to me
The rules of the game never change
The rules of the game never change
The rules of the game never change

The Ballad of Ophelia Kincade

Little we know how strange things come to pass
She sat in his lap and started to laugh
The spell that he wove was hypnotic and wild
Seen as it was through the eyes of a child

The Hippodrome rang and echoed with light
Camels and ostriches raced through the night
Where Kensington Gardens gave way to the Serpentine Bridge
The Long Water whispered “Give me your original sin”

Ophelia Kincade
Vanished in the penny arcade
Oh no, she never knew enough to be afraid
She won’t stay in her grave
She won’t stay

He pressed upon her, to her great surprise
Stars hanging silently beyond her eyes
Once he was done, his beast was still not appeased
His hands found her slim white neck and started to squeeze

Ophelia Kincade
Vanished from the penny arcade
Oh no, she never knew enough to be afraid
She won’t stay in her grave
She won’t stay

Back from the dead with a coin in her mouth
Vendetta persists like a storm from the south
Brimstone will rain, don’t say that you haven’t been warned
Hell hath no fury like a young girl forlorn

A Circus Tale

From the first she had peculiar tastes
All tied up into a 22-inch waist
Her teeth were sharp and could cut through solid bone
Her predilection to excess would not leave her alone

Come and see her Ladies, Gents, now step right up
Amazing and atrocious, if you dare

Savage fever-dreams grew inside her head
Scarlet billowed, streamed, multiplied and spread
Gypsy caravan circus traveling show
Said “Come away with me, my dear, and leave your life of woe”

Come and see her Ladies, Gents, now step right up
Amazing and atrocious, if you dare

On the night, the midwife swore she wouldn’t tell
(No one can know)
The family curse had struck again
(Where can this poor girl go?)

Welcome to the Freak Show! Only a sixpence!
Thrills and frights await you!
Step Right This Way! Behold- Half Girl, Half Beast!!!!

Amazing and atrocious, if you dare
Come and see her, drop a penny in the cup
You must see the girl born with a tail
The girl born with a tail

Chlorodyne

It starts so precisely
Trickle in to still the pain
Underneath my ribs, where fear and fury live
Douse my burning heart with kerosene

Drop by drop….

Awash in tar and feathers
I am drowning in my bed
Drop by drop by drop it calls my name

They say that God forgives all sins
But I have no forgiveness for him

Drop by drop….

Despite a sweet sensation, I am bitter to the bone
Clawing at this cross to float again
Forsaking all the colors and longing to go blind
Blue heaven I adore you chlorodyne

They say that God forgives all sins
But I have no forgiveness for him

A cure for life
A phantom itch
A painted wife lost in a darkened ditch

Chlorodyne

Lucky

I can’t believe it went straight to Hell
But then again nothing ends so well
Although you never know
Which way these things will go
Start your step on a crooked line

I always knew that my luck could change
For it to stick would be very strange
In bounty we will reap, or in penance we will weep
The axe could fall on the left or right

Stick with me, I’m lucky

Take a tip from a sinking ship
Don’t close your eyes or you’ll lose your grip
Keep your rivals close, for it’s them you need the most
Don’t give them room for a decent swing

Stick with me, I’m lucky

Nothing gained but a heart attack
Blow a kiss and you bounce right back
Only heaven knows how far this thing will go
Always headed for crash and burn
Always headed for crash and burn
You’d think with my form one day I’d learn
Always headed for crash and burn

Fortune’s Favour

I kissed his cheek so very lightly
I barely touched his skin at all
A passing glance just caught his fancy
That’s all it took to deal his fall

It’s only dangerous if you’re scared
Fortune favours those who dare

I let my perfume go and find him
And then I whispered in his ear

It’s only dangerous if you’re scared
Fortune favours those who dare

What have you got to lose
For a good time?
I will take all that I can find

Seemed like a good idea at the time
Seemed like a good idea at the time

St. Cecilia

Remember when we ruled the world, my darling
Free of fear and full of righteous wrath
We tried to put the world to rights, my darling
We burned down all the minefields in our path

I can see you in your prime, my darling
I hear all the songs we used to play
I can see your head thrown back
Pounding like a heart attack
Fierce and full of fury in the fray

You left as you came
Naked and in flames
Set free from every claim
Only your fame remains

I must swallow bitterness, my darling
Justice is a privilege with a cost
St. Cecilia shelter me
Lead me from this misery
Help me let go all that I have lost

I have seen endings that forced a new start
Angel of Mercy shoots straight through the heart
Bleeding the wound clean can drain a girl dry
Put up a good fight then vanish on high

See you on the other side, my darling
It’s nice to know you’re saving me a place
The downfall of a mastermind
Kindness made you drunk as wine
Although you’re gone, I still see your face

Empire

Raise your glass
It’s the last
Drink we take
Together

Meet my eyes
Now open wide
Smash the glass
Eternal

Remember when we had a plan
You would be my man
And the world bloomed wide

Once you have wept at the feet of your idols
Down on your knees at the bottom of the stairs
Only then can you hope to defeat all your rivals
Rise to become the monster you once feared

Head back, laughing at the mood swings
Held aloft by moth wings
All we had was time
We said we would build an Empire
We came alive like nerve fire
All the trains would run on time

Raise your glass
It’s the last
Drink we take
Together

Remember when we had a plan
You would be my man
And the world bloomed wide
We said we would build an Empire
We came alive like nerve fire
All the trains would run on time

Head back, laughing at the mood swings
Held aloft by moth wings
All we had was time
We said we would build an Empire
We came alive like nerve fire
All the trains would run on time