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The Emperor Falls

Track Listing & Lyrics

Click the song title to view lyrics:

  • by John Wesley

    What is this, you claim to profess
    some kind of rare deed done on time
    what mountain crossing have I missed
    what sort of barb's attached to your line

    Be careful of what you're promising
    don't dare look at me with those eyes

    Because you're way out of your league boy
    you're way out of your mind
    you can't be serious
    yet you can't be denied

    I've watched the sun rise and set
    on your deepest regrets
    yet you're still off chasing some star
    you leave me behind with your heart in my chest
    then come home bearing your latest scar

    When will you find what you're looking for
    don't you know it was here all the time

  • by John Wesley

    We hide...we run
    we dodge, we deny
    we turn from the gun and try

    To live...to learn
    yet we injure the loves
    that we don't recognize
    I look...to my home
    see a comb or a brush
    and remember the touch

    Of you...who I loved
    who I wronged
    who have come and gone
    you have come and gone
    though these dreams
    do fail
    to yield us the promise made

    Yield us the promise gave

    We reel...in the wake
    in the shock of the madness
    the all consuming sadness

    You bring...to me
    the body we created
    cut by words that were
    bladed
    we bleed... and move on
    with scars too slow to heal
    a memory too numb to
    feel
    you have come and gone

    Though we run from the
    coming of the light
    and we hide in the shadows of our own lives
    always searching for those
    who have gone
    those who have come and gone

    We feel safe in the
    cover of the night
    we bury the hope
    that's in our own lives
    living crushed by lovers
    who've gone
    you have come and gone
    you fade...from my sight
    from my heart you will bleed away
    then I will turn away
    of you...who I've loved
    who I've wronged
    who have come and gone

  • by John Wesley

    How easily forgotten
    how easily replaced
    your loved ones become...
    We are the wreckage strewn behind you
    love's own casualties
    from the battle that you won

    You could not wait
    to fly your flag
    you could not wait
    to raise you man in victory

    I know you hate
    to be mistaken
    for the woman
    of just an ordinary man...
    To be the lover
    of an ordinary man

    I'm down on my knees
    I'm crawling across the floor to you
    I'm holding out my hand
    God I do not understand
    why I'm down on my knees

    Now I'm troubled by your silence
    I'm troubled that you no longer dare
    to lay with me under the night stars
    or walk unhindered on your own two legs
    you could not wait
    to lose your new freedom
    you could not wait
    to carry your new chains
    I know you hate
    to keep him waiting
    so you'd better
    drag yourself back to him again

    I wanna feel alive
    I wanna feel awake
    to make these night stars go away
    I wanna feel alive
    I wanna feel awake
    I wanna feel anything and
    everything
    this world will let me taste

    I wanna see you cry
    I wanna see you break
    I wanna see you crash into the walls
    of your own infamy

  • by John Wesley

    Wish I could blame this on your youth
    but that would only make
    a martyr of the truth
    I chose to see only the
    beauty in your eyes
    never the shame
    never the lives

    Wish i could blame this on the sun
    I never seem to be the chosen one
    just a glimpse and you were gone
    this place without you seems all wrong

    Wish I could call you on the phone
    wish you happiness
    wherever you call home
    wish this night wasn't so dark and mean

    I wish you'd see me
    when you dream

    These are the days
    that won't let go
    this is the shame
    we're not allowed to show
    this is the anger from inside
    these are the days that will not die

    I wish these thoughts of you would end
    I wish that someday you could learn to be my friend
    I wish I'd never kissed your face
    I wish these thoughts to be erased

    I wish that someday you might find
    a little love
    a little peace of mind
    I wish that I don't fall apart
    I wish that you'd still hold me
    in your heart

  • by John Wesley

    This year the winter comes to early
    always seems to be you that takes the fall
    the summer that was her is gone forever
    you knew she was going but not that far

    People always ready to come down upon you
    say you choose your luck
    like you choose a tie
    and when those choices don't add up to nothing
    you feel like just laying down to die

    Before you go and do such a bad thing
    I'll let go a little secret that I hide

    I had to walk a mile in your shoes
    so listen up cause this rings true
    but for the grace of God
    there go I
    and you are not alone here on the edge

    Very few in this world mean to harm you
    some of those who do
    don't even try
    there are those of us here who really love you
    so just take what you have and don't ask why

  • by John Wesley

    You always been a little slow
    hung up on yourself most times
    you seem to watch the world going by through
    someone else's eyes
    your own reflection always seems to blind you
    but one day you awoke to find
    all the people that tried to love you were gone
    you were the only one left behind

    You were just one step behind
    you were just one step
    behind
    living one step behind
    and you missed it...

    You didn't put no kids through college
    or lavish love upon a wife
    so you sit alone with all your pretty things
    waiting for the phone to ring
    you saved a whole lot of money
    you spent a whole lot of time
    waiting for your greater future to get here
    but you couldn't catch it

    You were just one step behind....
    And you missed it

    Now you wake up on the sidewalk
    with your car keys in your hand 
    the sunrise burning holes in your eyes
    but you missed it
    you chased away your princess
    waiting for a queen
    now your princess is gone
    with another man
    and you miss her
    lord how you miss her
    living just one step behind

    You wake up and it's over
    you done spent your life alone
    you don't remember that it even happened
    don't realize it's gone
    you were just one step behind

  • by John Wesley

    So we stay
    at morning they come
    she was gone at the first sign of trouble
    see how she runs
    then you're paralyzed
    her silhouette in light
    and she's dancing on your grave

    The sunrise breaks
    what's done is done
    the wind blows cold through your bones and you
    see how they run
    when you're trice denied
    and you're paralyzed
    I'll be the last man by your side

    All of your castles may crumble
    and your ministers may lie
    I will still be standing
    I'll be the last man by your side

  • by John Wesley

    You're not allowing me to breathe
    the man said
    I've no room to move
    and all of this discussion
    is ringing in my head

    This is not an issue of love
    no not anymore
    she said it's a matter of your freedom
    which really means
    me watching you walk through that door

    Freedom for you to roam
    the earth and the seventh seas
    freedom to leave your child
    no don't look at me please

    I know I ain't as pretty
    as the day we met

    Our bed it ain't as warm
    but I've got love for you still inside of me yet
    love for you, still inside of me yet

  • by John Wesley

    Brick by brick
    stone by stone
    dismantle the will of a man
    strip his flesh and bone

    Reach out your hand
    the moment comes
    blade catches the light of your eyes
    the man slowly comes undone

    Nobody noticed
    no one saw a thing
    all turned a blind eye to the fallen
    and the bad luck he brings

    You wake in the morning after
    the sky's a color that you can't see
    friends have fallen by the wayside
    why isn't anyone talking to me
    get those funny looks in the market
    people you loved just stare
    wander on with your hands in your pockets
    even your girlfriend don't care

    They've all come to watch the emperor
    They've all come to watch the emperor
    They've all come to watch the emperor

    To watch the emperor fall

    One part truth
    three parts deceit
    two parts shit that you made up
    add passion for heat

    Did ya hear he said this
    can you believe he done that
    can you believe the nerve of the man
    let me at him tell me where he's at
    wake to your fave in the mirror
    see someone you don't recognize
    stare at the changes in the reflection
    you've become someone that you despise

  • by John Wesley

    Why do you cry for her
    she's not gone to heaven
    she's just around the corner
    with some man

    You grieve as if she's died
    and been taken
    she's just slipped from you
    like water through your hands

    She said, I know a little
    about losing people
    I watched 'em come and go
    like moving pictures of a life

    You give what you can
    but they slip right through ya
    like they were never here
    they fade into the night

    She looked at me and said,
    "I gave my all, to get nothing"
    the value of our lives won't fill a grave
    I'd trade my soul to be part of something
    I'd trade my life to be someone for a day
    someone for a day

  • by John Wesley

    Silver linings are for someone else's cloud
    yours have lately been all gray
    I know your dreams and they've seen their better days
    some of us who live have higher tolls to pay

    Why have you brought me this angel here

    Are you alive, ah come on look at me
    I know you're in there, just open your eyes
    I know you're alive
    oh but you just might not want to be
    I can hear you breathe just open your eyes
    hope is a stain on someone else's soul
    despair sustains your soul
    you waste your days, let them slip away
    hard to hold on when there's nothing left to hold

    Are you alive ah come on look at me
    I know you're in there
    just open your eyes
    I know you're alive
    oh ya just might not wanna be
    I can hear you breathe
    just open your eyes

    I want you to know I've never been far away
    there's nothing to be said can't be undone
    you're all I have so please don't go away
    there's nothing that you've said that can't be undone

    Are you alive
    ah come one look at me
    I know you're in there
    just open your eyes
    I know you're alive
    oh ya just might not wanna be
    I can hear you breathe
    just open your eyes

  • by John Wesley

    I've grown tired
    I've grown cold
    nothing causes any harm to me
    hated things I hold
    I can't feel what you give to me
    see the skin's burned from my hands
    I remember what you promised me

    like some desperation Angel
    I come running back to you...

    My eye have numbed
    my words have died
    can't witness what I've become
    God could burn my eyes
    I can't bear you to look at me
    is there nowhere I can hide
    I hold on to what you promised me

    Like some desperation Angel
    I come running
    back to you
    and in desperation Angel
    I've come running home to you
    trust in me my angel
    you'll never know what I've been through
    never know what I've been through
    no no, never know what I've been through

    I'm your desperation Angel
    I've come running home to you
    and in desperation Angel
    I've come running back to you
    running back to you
    running back to you
    running back to you
    running back to you

  • by John Wesley

    You took a turn for the worse
    when I caught up to you last night
    flickering it's saving light

    And though improper thing we may do
    not always just or always right
    every once in a while
    I see you smile
    like everything will be alright

    You always wanted to be so bad
    you always wanted to be
    one of the stars in the evening sky
    one of the doves flying free
    Winter stole upon you in your twenty second year
    fragile as a wedding smile
    you began to disappear
    and as the worst of this
    comes on you
    you know I'll never leave
    your sight
    as the night goes out
    of this room child
    just pray and hold me tight

    It's time to close your eyes child
    it's time for you to sleep
    there ain't no more pain
    and no more tears
    and this promise I will keep

    And though improper things we may do
    not always just or always right
    in your heart an angel smiles
    and guides you through the night

  • by John Wesley

    We don't look at things the same way
    some days you don't look at me at all
    think we could weather this storm
    together won't be so hard if we fall

    So come to me with your hands open
    trust in me I will be your chance
    there's always time enough for bleeding
    there never seems to be time enough to dance
    no time to dance would you give me,
    my love a time to dance

    This old world is weighin' down on you
    your eyes barely leave the floor
    rest your head upon my shoulder
    there's a meanness going on out there
    and you don't need anymore


Album Credits

Produced and Engineered By – Mark Daghorn
Mastered By Peter Mew at Abbey Road
Recorded at New Rising Studio, Peldon, England, August 98
Tape Op – Will Elliott
Steve Hogarth – Recorded and Engineered by Stewart Every
Wyatt Management Worldwide – Warren Wyatt and Julie Hines
Catering by – Vernice Riley-Daghorn

John Wesley – Guitar and Vocals
Tracy LaBarbera – Vocals, Piano on “Gift of a Woman”
Mark Prator – Drums and Percussion
Andy Irvine – Bass and Fretless Bass
Steve Hogarth – Backing vocals on “So Bad”, “An Ordinary Man”
Steve Rothery – Outro Solo on “Gift of a Woman”
Tony Turrell – Hammond Organ on “Days That Won’t Let Go”, “Someone for a day”, “Come and Gone”, “Last Man by Your Side”

All songs written by John Wesley
Published by Warner Chappel Music

Thanks to: The members, families and crew of Marillion. Adrian Mulcahy of Marshall Amplifiers Russell Farrow Martin Hooker and Liz Fairweather John Wesley uses: Marshal Amps Fender Guitars Langejanes Acoustic Guitars Special Thanks to Family and Friends: Jamie Dearth, Jay and Doris Dearth, Sarah Riley, Sherri Townsend, Denise Doyle, Stewart and Paula Every, Dean Rosenberger, Val and Kit Smith, Kim and John Pace, Andy Karp, Mario “M” Medious, Russ and Jan Vance, Metal Mike and Mary Van Ryswyke, Eric Neilson, Tas Sturdevant, Mike Tramp, Tom and Jim Morris, Michael and Charlie LaBarbera, Dave Wehner, Phil Peplinski, The Oleson Family, JJ Jester, Rob Galardi, Rob and Alexis Crossland, Rinus Van Doveren, Michel Koolian, Bill Fresch, Christina Holz, Lisa Makita, All the WEB fan clubs, George Harris, Maggie Council, Beanstalk, Masa Itoh, Tatsu Hirano, Stephan Ettiene, Oliver Garnier and to all of those that helped me in bringing this project to life.

Photography – Paul Harries