Artist: Van Der Graaf Generator

Submitted by Annie.

Viewed 69 times.

The Emperor On His War-Room I. The Emperor

Standing in the space that holds the silent lace
of night away from you
You think that you can hold the searing, molten gold
between your fingers ...
But it slips through, tearing tendons as it goes,
exposing the white of a knuckle ...
flesh-and-metal forming letters in the mould.

Cradling your gun, after choosing the ones
you think should die -
Lying on the hill ... crawling over the windowsill
into your living-room
They stare out, glass-eyed aimless heads,
bodies torn by vultures ..
you are the man whose hands are rank with
the smell of death.
Saviour of the Fallen, Protector of the Weak,
Friend of the Tall Ones, Keeper of the Peace ...
Ah, but it is the only way you know .....

Looking out to sea, a flattened plane of weeds which bear no living
You crush life in your fist as your heart is kissed by the lips of death
Ghosts betray you, ghosts betray you,
in the night they steal your eye
from its socket ...
and the ball hangs fallen on your cheek.
Complaining tongues are stilled; a thousand mouths
are filled with rusting metal.
Your face a shade of green; somehow you try
to speak through all the garbage in your mouth
But it won't come out, and you cannot frame the words
as your stepson
throws your fame into the flames and you are burned.
Saviour of the Fallen, Protector of the Weak,
Friend of the Tall Ones, Keeper of the Peace.
Ah, but it is the only way you know ..........

Are these lyrics incorrect? Use our Corrections Form.

Other Songs by this Artist

1. A Place To Survive
2. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers
3. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: (Custard’s) Last Stand
4. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: Eyewitness
5. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: Land’s End (Sineline) / We Go Now
6. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: Presence Of The Night / Kosmos Tours
7. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: S.H.M.
8. A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: The Clot Thickens
9. Aerosol Grey Machine
10. After The Flood
11. Afterwards
12. Aguarian
13. Arrow
14. Cat’s Eye / Yellow Fever (Running)
15. Chemical World
16. Childlike Faith In Childhood’s End
17. Darkness (11/11)
18. Door
19. Firebrand
20. House With No Door
21. Into A Game
22. Killer
23. La Rossa
24. Last Frame
25. Lemmings (Including COG)
26. Lizard Play
27. Lost I. Dance In Sand And Sea
28. Lost II. Dance In Frost
29. Man-Erg
30. Masks
31. Meurglys III, The Songwriter’s Guild
32. Mirror Images
33. My Room (Waiting For Wonderland)
34. Necromancer
35. Octopus
36. Orthenthian Street Part I
37. Orthenthian Street Part II
38. Out Of My Book
39. Pilgrims
40. Pioneers Over C.
41. Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: Eyewitness
42. Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers: The Clot Thickens
43. Refugees
44. Running Back
45. Scorched Earth
46. Ship Of Fools
47. Still Life
48. The Emperor On His War-Room I. The Emperor
49. The Emperor On His War-Room II. The Room
50. The Habit Of The Broken Heart
51. The People You Were Going To
52. The Siren Song
53. The Sleepwalkers
54. The Sphinx In The Face
55. The Undercover Man
56. The Wave
57. Urban
58. Whatever Would Robert Have Said
59. When She Comes
60. White Hammer
61. Wondering