LYRICS & CONTEXT FOR "ROME IS BURNING" (a series of cautionary tales)
The Appian Way (Track 1)
where our journey begins...
a brief instrumental introduction to the album; literally, "the Roman Road"
Rome Is Burning (Track 2)
Our bard decides to flee the city, disillusioned by his musical muse and those in power, such as Nero.
A.D. 64
So long my dark siren's song. My skin slips this city by dawn. You had me enticed by a music gone wrong. There, up in the highest keep, a madman smiles and plays while fires dance and leap to the chaos he creates. With a gesture of his hand he profanes the regal crown. The depravity of man is an art that knows no bounds. Rome is burning! So long, my dark siren's song. My skin slips this city by dawn. You had me enticed by a music gone wrong, so I'm gone. Once, a man could walk a steady trail. Each road he took was straight and the narrow way prevailed before the landscape altered shape. It's said that, "All paths lead to Rome", but I'll go the other way. Its difficult and old, but keeps you honest when you pray. Rome is burning! Rome is burning! Tables turning. Echoes yearning. So long, my dark siren's song. My skin slips this city by dawn. You had me enticed by a music gone wrong, so I'm gone. Yes I'm gone. Though a king would light the Christian pyres, confusion reigned supreme from insatiable desires, in the land of broken dreams. And you who showed me what could be, had presented schemes as wise, but I saw through your deceit when the scales fell from my eyes. Rome is burning! So long, my dark siren's song....
She Felt The Heat (Track 3)
Desperate times call for desperate measures, but at what cost to herself and others?
c. 50-30 B.C.
Enchanting Cleopatra: the seventh of her name. Three hundred years of dynasty collapsed upon her reign. Cast out by rival factions, she wanted Caesar's child. So she rolled-out from a carpet wearing nothing but a smile. She felt the heat, She felt the heat rising up from the desert- like fire dancing in a dream. A torrid feat wrapped in deceit. The Nile was boiling over into the sea from the searing steps of Giza to the sweltering Valley of The Kings. Resplendent Cleopatra, while visiting in Rome, heard Caesar was cut down so she just had to go back home. The temperature was climbing. The pressure got intense. She had to find an ally soon or face the consequences of the heat, She felt the heat rising up from the desert, like fire dancing in a dream. She had to beat a swift retreat, like a Sirocco wind that scorches the East, from the searing steps of Giza to the sweltering Valley of The Kings. Enticing Cleopatra made her bed with Antony, but soon their fleets were vanquished and left flaming in the sea. She took her poison quickly. The venom found its way. She closed her eyes to die before she heard a spirit say, You slept with Caesar, slaughtered your sister, murdered your brother (who was also your mister). You'd rather make some entries in the Book of The Dead than let go of the Egyptian throne. Cleopatra, welcome home! She felt the heat, rising up from the Netherworld like fire dancing in a dream. One final act to save her dignity, as the Nile was boiling into the sea, from the searing steps of Giza to the sweltering Valley of The Kings.
Hannibal Is At The Gates (Track 4)
A spokesman for Carthage's Hannibal Barca addresses the the roman army.
c. 210 B.C.
His name means Son of Lightning Bolt. He's been at war since nine years old. Watched his own father drown at sea, and vowed to be no friend of Rome. Took up the mantle of the cause. He knows your legions' tragic flaws. Tenacious drive and cunning means are his before one arrow's ever drawn. He'll lift you up, then put you down. He'll set you aside, or maybe put you in the ground. You dare not meet us in the field. Accept your fate. Tell your kinsmen, Hannibal is at the gates! It's as his mouthpiece that I speak. I come to offer terms of peace. Of course, you always have a choice: Yield to Carthage now or face withering defeat. (repeat chorus) Rome thought they'd watch us come ashore. The unexpected route was easy to ignore. Hannibal sealed his name in legend and in lore the day he crossed the Alps with 60 pachyderms of war. He said, No matter where you run from me, I'll already have you right where I want you to be. With only one good eye, I see it's not too late., but tell your kinsmen, that Hannibal is at the gates!
The Ides of March (Track 5)
At Julius Caesar's funeral, Marc Antony uses skilled rhetoric to undermine the assassins' public support while appearing to support them.
44 B.C.
Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears, for Caesar has fallen and so have our tears, and Rome is torn apart. I come not to praise him, but pay my respects to a man such as this who would flirt with his death, on this, the Ides of March. Treachery! Daggers drip with mendacity. The soothsayer cried, Beware the Ides of March! Guilty of only an ambitious reign, he has filled up our coffers, increased our domain; triumphant 'neath the arch! "Long Live the Republic", is oft overheard, so murder aside, it was for our own good, on this, the Ides of March. Treachery! Daggers drip with mendacity. The soothsayer cried, Beware the Ides of March! What did he say? Et tu Brute'.?..et tu Brute'?...et tu Brute'? Please do not blame these most hon'ra-ble men whose betrayal was just. Who am I to condemn, on this, the Ides of March? Treachery! Daggers drip with mendacity. The soothsayer cried, Beware the Ides of March!
To The Unknown God (Track 6)
A local philosopher seeks insight from a stranger in town named paul, a roman citizen who claims to have knowledge about "the unknown God" on display at the aerogapagus in Athens.
c. A.D. 50
Come join us, stranger- we welcome you here, where the latest philosophies trend. Up on Mars Hill where the libations spill, you will find more gods than men...You will find more gods than men... Marketplace whispers have urged us to press what you've gleaned from your travels abroad. It is said you have insight and thus genuflect down before our unknown god...down before our unknown god... Speak of a wisdom that I have not already heard... Let us debate the divine and discuss the absurd. Please tell me more of this mystery light; how it lives and it breathes and it moves. But how can a man who is dead walk away from the tomb? Some Stoics just shrug and then amble away. Epicureans claim you're a fraud, but I will remain here if you can explain how to know the unknown god...how to know the unknown god...
Render Unto Caesar (Track 7)
Tension between faith and society have always been heightened when money is involved....and power.
c. A.D. 29
The Empire occupation squeezed each conquered nation- Merchants forced to bend the knee or lose their patrons- Teachers of religion swayed by double vision, (Roman silver lined their pockets and their mission). They came to Jesus with a question, but no desire to understand. Should we render unto Caesar? Give him the tax that he demands? Should we render unto Caesar? Does it break the one true God's commands? So when they laid their trap, (a loaded question, with a pretense so transparent from their indiscretion). Claiming to be wise but fooled by their own fiction, Jesus called them out and answered with precision. Whose name is on this coin you carry? Whose likeness used to buy your bread? He said, Render unto Caesar. Pay with the coin of his design. Yes, you render unto Caesar, but you owe God your very lives. Struck with wonder at the fine point of His answer, (bound by neither Roman law or Jewish masters). Jealous in their hearts, insulted in their station, Ruined in their plans to hurt His reputation. You underhanded den of vipers! You whitewashed tomb of dead men's bones! Therefore, render unto Caesar. You spend the silver he requires, and you render unto Caesar. Do you give God what He desires? You claim to know Divine creation. You keep the law but break God's heart. You should render unto Caesar. This earthly tribute you have known. Yes, you render unto Caesar. Remit to God what is His own.
Crossing The Rubicon (Track 8)
General Julius Caesar pauses at the banks of the rubicon river, knowing that crossing back into his home territory with an army could be interpreted as war on rome. This act would mark a point of no return.
49 B.C.
I'm goin' back, after eight long years of war. Said I'm goin' way back home to a scene I can't ignore. But when I cross the Rubicon I may not find an open door. Pompey told me not to do it, but this ain't no "Pompey circumstance". Pompey told me not to do it, but this ain't no "Pompey circumstance". And once we cross the Rubicon there will be no turning back. 'Cause when we cross this little river, you'll do well to not forget there are plenty-of-people to side-with-the-senate & see it as a threat. But I know the masses love me, as I bring the plunder home. I trampled-the-Gauls-and-their-garrison-walls, just to give it back-to-Rome. So sign your name or leave your mark, if you wanna come with me. Sign your name or leave your mark- soldier, if you wanna come with me. We might live, or we might die! Across the Rubicon, we'll see. Marcus warned me not to march back home, but I'm not just "marking time". Marcus warned me not to march back home, but I'm not just "marking time". 'Cause when you cross the Rubicon, the greater the risk, the sweeter the wine!
The Plague of Cyprian (Track 9)
When widespread pestilence invaded the Roman empire, Cyprian (Bishop of Carthage) struggled with his faith and his humanity in knowing how to lead others amid unspeakable tragedy.
c. A.D. 260
Strange events in life you can't foreSee them now, but hindsight's always Free your self-inflicted Misery despises company. The narrative has failed...Your storybook ending is a grim fairy-tale. But remember this tale's not complete. Don't forget to breathe....Used to think that time would heal your Cursed aloud when time just made things Worst of all, you thought you'd know it First to see this failure unrehearsed. When you feel so small...When you sleep all the time or you don't sleep at all...As you push through your bloodshot fatigue..Don't forget to breathe...Walk among the gravely fallen-Ill advised to think you're better Still convinced that love came down to Heal a darkness nothing else reveals. The Sovereign hears your cry! Remember love is free but the cost is still high. As you wait for the pain to recede...Don't forget to breathe....
Song Of The Gladiator (Track 10)
A renown warrior of the violent arena games tells a bard about his life so his friend might immortalize him in song.
c. A.D. 100
The great arena called to me when I was just 16 and had no means. It was prison, or death or victory. You can guess which one I chose. For the gods saw fit to make me strong, with trees for legs and a heavy arm...and feet so swift one could never tell where the next blow might be from! You ask me how I have prevailed, so cup your ear and listen to the gladiator's tale. I trudge through a pit of blood and sand, with the ghosts of beasts and the bones of man, where the will to live and a sword will make me famous 'til I die. So sing my song with the skill of Apollo. Lift your lyre and the crowd will follow. Such is the tale of a hero's sorrow: famous 'til I die... Patrician ladies know my name, though I have no riches that I can claim. You and I are much the same- We can captivate the mob. For you the bard, and I the destroyer sell our drama to the thirsty soldier, the common folk, and empire molders searching for a god. Here's to the unknown peace you seek...though I don't understand this grace of which you speak...(repeat chorus) Sharpen my weapon on the grinding stone while I think about love that I might have known. Make it so sharp that it cuts through bone and a hardened heart like mine. Venus never gave me time for love, but the god of war let me drink his cup. Its bittersweet when mixed with all the death I have survived. Make sure they know it was for Rome...Make sure they know the Coliseum was my home. (repeat chorus). I've fought for years, but its been said that Damocles' sword hangs above my head. I feel it dangle by a thread each time I hear the throng. These walls are soaked with cheers and curses for all must have their bread and circus. The hero found within your verse will soon be just a song...Make sure this tune is sweet to hear. Make sure they understand I knew my death was near. I trudge through a pit of blood and sand with the ghosts of beasts and the boasts of man, where the will to live and a sword will make me famous 'til I die. So sing my song with the skill of Apollo. Lift your lyre and the crowd will follow. Sad is the tale of a hero- Only famous 'til I die...