Nobody's Empire

Lying on my bed, I was reading French

With the light too bright for my senses

From this hiding place, life was way too much

It was loud and rough 'round the edges

So I faced the wall when an old man called

Out of dreams that I would die there

But a sight unseen, you were pulling strings

You had a different idea

I was like a child, I was light as straw

When my father lifted me up there

Took me to a place where they checked my body

My soul was floating in thin air

I clung to the bed, and I clung to the past

I clung to the welcome darkness

But at the end of the night, there's a green green light

The quiet before the madness

There was a girl that sang like the chime of a bell

And she put out her arm

She touched me when I was in hell

When I was in hell

Someone sang a song, and I sang along

'Cause I knew the words from my childhood

Intellect, ambition, they fell away

And they locked me up for my own good

But I didn't mind 'cause the silence was kind

It spoke to me in whispers

There was the sound of the wind in the cold cold dawn

And the quiet hum of a business

Let me dangle a while in this waiting room

I don't need to go, I don't need to know what you're doing

Know what you're doing

Lying on my side, you were half awake

And your face was tired and crumpled

If I had a camera, I'd snap you now

'Cause there's beauty in every stumble

We are out of practice, we're out of sight

On the edge of nobody's empire

And if we live by the books and we live by hope

Does that make us targets for gunfire?

Now I look at you, you're a mother of two

You're a quiet revolution

Marching with the crowd, singing dirty and loud

For the people's emancipation

Did I do okay, did I pave the way?

Was I strong when you were wanting?

I was tied to the yoke with a decent bloke

Who was stern but never daunting

And he told me to push, and he made me feel well

He told me to leave that vision of hell to the dying

Oh, to the dying