Van Der Graaf Generator - Every Bloody Emperor lyrics

By this we are all sustained: a belief in human nature and in justice and parity...all we have is the faith to carry on. Imperceptible the change as our votes become mere gestures and our lords and masters determine to cast us in the roles of serfs and slaves in the new empire's name. Yes and every bloody emperor claims that freedom is his cause as he buffs up on his common touch as a get-out clause. Unto nations nations speak in the language of the gutter; trading primetime insults the imperial impulse extends across the screen. Truth's been beaten to its knees; the lies embed ad infinitum till their repetition becomes a dictum we're traitors to disbelieve. With what impotence we grieve for the democratic process as our glorious leaders conspire to feed us the last dregs of imperious disdain in the new empire's name. Yes and every bloody emperor's got his hands up history's skirt as he poses for posterity over the fresh-dug dirt. Yes and every bloody emperor with his sickly rictus grin talks his way out of nearly anything but the lie within because every bloody emperor thinks his right to rule divine so he'll go spinning and spinning and spinning into his own decline. Imperceptible the change as one by one our voices falter and the double standards of propaganda still all our righteous rage. By this we are all sustained: our belief in human nature. But our faith diminishes - close to the finish, we're only serfs and slaves as the empire decays.