That’s How Every Empire Falls John Prine/ R.B. Morris [Intro] He caught a train from Alexandria Just a broken man in flight Running scared with all his devils Saying prayers all through the night But mercy can’t find him Not in the shadows where he calls Forsaking all his better angels That’s how every empire falls [Instrumental] The bells ring out on Sunday morning Like echoes from another time All our innocence and yearning And sense of wonder left behind Oh gentle hearts remember What was that story his they lost When religion loses vision That’s how every empire falls [Instrumental] He toasts his wife and all his family The providence he brought to bear They raise their glasses in his honor Although this union made ’em share Of a man that lives among them But still a stranger to them all For when a heart is never open That’s how every empire falls [Instrumental] Lock the door and board the windows Put the people in the street It just my job he says I’m sorry And draws the jackels home to eat But at night he tell his woman I know I hide behind the laws She says you are only taking orders That’s how every empire falls [Instrumental] A bitter wind blows through the country A hard rain falls on the sea If terror comes without a warning There must be something we don’t see Well fire begets this fire Like torches thrown into the straw If no one ask and no one answers That’s how every empire falls [Outro]