the came from the east,
|
they brought horses to our cultivated lands,
|
the gave power to our have-nots.
|
they took our culture,
|
they brought new customs to our burial grounds,
|
broadened the bases of our history.
|
they came from the east,
|
replaced our despots with their caliphates,
|
conquered but tolerated our gods.
|
they brought us wisdom,
|
they brought a zero to our tired calculations,
|
they guarded knowledge weĄ¯d forgotten.
|
they came from the east. byzantium (a city of moths)
|
crumbled into a dust that plunged europe into the dark.
|
constantinople (a metropolis of candles)
|
brought light to our books as europe forgot how to read.
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letĄ¯s make this stage our rubicon,
|
letĄ¯s cast a die, letĄ¯s let history decide.
|
and as i cross it, i chase aeneas back to his ships,
|
i bring the rhythm back to the hips.
|
and as rome is consumed,
|
as i fiddle this whisper tune on these strings,
|
friends, i have no need of your ears.
|
so letĄ¯s make this stage our rubicon,
|
our frozen rhine, our yippie picket line
|
and i caesar hoffman! and as i cross it,
|
i bring the central asian steppe sweeping into the wilds of europe.
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i make my bedroom rome, i make this city my home,
|
i am remus come from the dead,
|
come to tell you all to sack this city tonight,
|
letĄ¯s sack this city tonight,
|
because i always heard better in the dark.
|
thus immersed in barbarous longing
|
|
-----------------
|
Rise And Fall
|
| Million Dead |
