We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Emperor Falls

by John Wesley

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Immediate download of 14-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire. Includes a PDF of album artwork.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The Emperor Falls CD (reissue) in jewel case

    Also includes immediate download of 14-track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
    ships out within 2 days
    1 remaining

      $10 USD

     

1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
There Go I 04:56
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
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 face in the mirror see someone you don't recognize stare at the changes in the reflection you've become someone that you despise
10.
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
11.
Silver linings are for someone else's cloud yours have lately been all grey 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
12.
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
13.
So Bad 02:09
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
14.
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 weighing 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 it anymore

credits

released November 1, 1998

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

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

John Wesley Riverview, Florida

Singer, Songwriter, Guitarist. On tour with Vertical Horizon. Performed with Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Fish, Sound of Contact, Big Elf, Mike Tramp. Newest album, a way you'll never be... Free music downloads at www.john-wesley.com check them out.... ... more

contact / help

Contact John Wesley

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like John Wesley, you may also like: