In the dawn of desperation
When the peasants are beheading
Every emperor with a golden crown
First they'll stand with one another
Then they'll turn against each other
Under thunder on a battleground.
With their torches, tar, and feathers
Off to round up all the witches
On a rail to run them out of town
In a kingdom that's collapsing
While I'm dancing in the ashes
Playing' fiddle, watching Rome burn down
You can dance around the fire
With the hand that holds the power
Or go cower with the gagged and bound
While the vultures count the profits
And the hawks are launching rockets
In a garden growing mushroom clouds.
You can storm the ivory towers
But the knight in shining armor's
Days are numbered on the body count
So I'm laughing up at heaven
In the arms of Armageddon
Playing fiddle watching Rome burn down
You can find me playing fiddle watching Rome burn down
Playing' fiddle watching' Rome burn down
You can find me playing fiddle watching Rome burn down
Playing' fiddle watching' Rome burn down
Where the tricksters and the grifters
And the rich carnival barkers
Sell their sulfur to a spell-bound crowd
Buying tickets to the promise
Of a better world a-comin'
Left with nothing when their hope runs out
There's a lifeboat overflowing
On a rising violent ocean
In the darkness where the sailors drown
But I'm smiling on an island
By the tidal wave horizon
Playing fiddle watching Rome burn down
If you're screaming in defiance
Are you David or Goliath?
Where the riot rages all around
Call it vengeance, call it justice
Call it progress, call it selfish
Either way I'm gonna' have my doubts
Maybe I'm just causing problems
Thinking I know how to solve them
So for once I'm gonna' shut my mouth.
Waiting silent in the shadows
Like a devil at the crossroads
Playing fiddle watching Rome burn down
While the charlatans are shouting
Propaganda on the mountain
Truth is spoken to an empty house
When you ask for my opinion
Are you trying to make a difference
Or find something to complain about?
When indulgence and consumption
Leave a landscape of destruction
Where it's far too late to turn back now
I'll be moving on my own way
Down the existential highway
Playing fiddle watching Rome burn down