Leigh - Empire's Final Days

[leighelse]

I agree it's a tad bleak; but it's not indicative of my general state of mind, and it is the first truly new song I've recorded this year. If a song can be something (largely) unsung.

1. The curtains of the night have parted, letting in the haze
   That poses now as daylight in our empire's final days.
   We rise to face the morning - not as promise but as threat -
   To eek out a subsistence that's more meagre every week.

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

2. The corporates who rule us gained the power of life and death,
   But their games no longer offer life; death is all that's left.
   We believed and bought and bartered every promise we were sold.
   Eager for the glitter, we surrendered all our gold.

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

These are our empire's final days;
Strike the band and clap your hands,
Lets go out in a blaze.
These are our empire's final days;
Let's raise a shout today,
Tomorrow's silent as the grave.


3. We fought truth in the courtroom, in the schoolroom, on the news,
   We have beaten it to silence without leaving any clues.
   Now there's no-one who could tell you that the skies weren't always brown,
   That the seas weren't always black, for the truth cannot be found

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

4. The shopping mall of Babel was our empire's finest hour
   Now all the stores are empty, the spell has lost its power.
   So we're doomed by greed and selfishness to selfishness and greed,
   The subjects of our empire merely pawns on which it feeds.

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

These are our empire's final days;
Let's loot and rape and pillage
Hedonism's all the rage.
These are our empire's final days;
Don't think about tomorrow
It doesn't want you anyway.


5. The rivers have run dry, there are no seasons any more,
   And hunger stalks the empire with an appetite for war.
   To stave off death this afternoon we eat tomorrow's seed,
   There's no logic and no future, just a gnawing need.

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

6. The planet may recover in a billion years or two,
   But no prognosis offers hope to pawns like me and you.
   So we crawl upon the barren earth we've cursed in our despair,
   Every breath an agony sucked from the poisoned air.

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

These are our empire's final days;
Let's drink a toast to anything
If there's anything to drink. 
These are our empire's final days;
We've had our chance, it's over
It doesn't matter what we think.

7. We worshipped in a temple built to growth and trade and greed,
   And on its altar sacrificed our love and hope and need.
   Now the priests have locked the doors, and we are left upon the floor
   Gasping air too thin and poor to bear existence one hour more ...

   In our empire's final days.
   Our empire's final days.

copyright APRA 2016

 
On a positive note, the replacement microswitch for my BR-1600 arrived today. Hopefully in another week or so I'll have a working F4 key and be able to generate some drum tracks.

[Groundy]

Loving this Leigh,
So well written and recorded.
Nice harmony,
well done ...

Alex

[SE]

Cool stuff, that's a lyric my brain freezes up after a couple of verses, kinda story lead comment on today maybe?
Anyway great effort!

[kenny mac]

This is very clever,I love the sound of the recording and the vocals are crystal clear,the lyrics are absolutely brilliant.
I love the twist and turns in this song.
Excellent vocals.
A great song indeed ,well done

[Farrell Jackson]

Very well done Leigh! I like the rhythm of your spoken word and the chorus breaks out nicely. The slight reggae-ish rhythm the keys provide gives this excellent appeal. The lyric might be dark, doom and gloom but it's not a huge leap to apply them to what is a happening today. Well done.

Farrell

[bruno]

Leigh - totally love this track. All those time changes, well my brain can't cope with that. A bleak message indeed, but catchy as anything, and quirky as hell. Super creative tune.
B

[Ella]

Very captivating performance. Well done!

[Oldrottenhead]

wow that is a lot of lyrics.

this is the first chance since getting back from Geir's hut to sit down and give this song my full attention.


it is a great piece Leigh. 

[Redler]

You've fantastic voice! A bit dark on positive way!

Loved the reggae-ish style and the tempo change work fine! Excellent songwriting both on lyric and composition! Enjoyable!

[Johnny Robbo]

I love the dark, bleak lyric & your delivery is perfect... then the tempo shifts up a gear and the contrast is (in my opinion) what makes a good song into a great one!