R. B. Morris - That's How Every Empire Falls - Backstage: Tennessee Shines
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- čas přidán 26. 02. 2010
- R. B. Morris performs "That's How Every Empire Falls" on Backstage: Tennessee Shines.
For concert information and more visit:
www.TennesseeShines.com
Join us the last Wednesday of each month for Tennessee Shines! - Hudba
I've just discovered this (via John Prine), and I'm blown away. What a fantastic song. It might never be 'popular' but It will for sure be immortal. 500 years from now there will be other people hearing this song for the first time, and they too will shaking their heads, blown away by the truth of these lyrics. Wonderful, just wonderful.
This is a stupendous song, the lyric, the melody, the sentiment..... just a piece of musical perfection...
I've been listening to this man for a long time. And this is truly a perfect song.
I have to stop listening to this man sing this song...it was about ten times yesterday, another ten times today....the lyrics sheer poetry, a truly meaningful and poetically relevant comment on these times , on us, on me...and R.B.'s voice so fine and soulful...damn...right now it is the coolest song I have heard in a long time ...and me a life long Prine fan as well...that Gibson Humming Bird is so sweet.
I can relate; I was like that with Billy Joel's Innocent man. This is an excellent and profoundly timely and meaningful song.
Here today to say the same. May everyone hear the message of this song. May God bless us all.
One of the most intelligent, relevant, compelling songs composed in English. For me, Morris's song rates up there with those of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and others. The melody, the ringing guitar passages....I never tire of this one and even now, more than ever, people need to hear it.
Ain't it grand when you stumble over a song this good? What a find. Well sung Sir.
I can't stop listening to this song, . I don't know when he wrote this , but it it so relevant to the times. Prophetic.
2012
Never heard of you before, Mister, but I'll damn sure remember.
I heard Marianne Faithful do this in Hong Kong a few weeks ago. I had never heard of R.B. Morris before. I am sure glad I have now. Perfect song and beautifully delivered.
Just found RB tonight. Incredible. Not often you stumble onto a song like this. His CD is also amazing.
same here...just stumbled onto it after listening to the Prine version...and I can't stop playing it over and over
This is just beyond my words....
My personal favorite of RB's is still "Big Town, Little Town." That's a song that only appears on one of RB's independent albums. He doesn't play it live anymore, but it still captures the spirit of Fort Sanders, Knoxville, from which I learned how to launch my own adventure...
A child of which, I sorta is.
Any songwriter would kill to write a song half this good!
true that
Still listening to him in Scottsdale, AZ ~ 2020
RB is a legend
This song is absolutely perfect.
Just some ultra great lyrics .... thank you sir for your perceptions and tunes
this is amazing!! i am soo excited to see him in ashland, ky with john prine!! i hope to meet you RB Morris!!
Just discovered this. It's very relevant in 2018.
And this is my favourite version.
even more relevent today in 2022.
Perfect song.
Even more important today.
Damn man, you've got it! I'm impressed.
Nobody writes like RB. Check out his music and prose. RB is great!
exceptional song.
Meanwhile, over at at John Prine's video, 99% of commenters "think" Prine wrote it.
Wayne Gale
Commenting publicly as Wayne Gale
R. B. Morris When Every Empire Falls
Caught a train from Alexandria
Just a broken man in flight
Running scared with his devils
Saying prayers all through the night
Oh but mercy can't find him
Not in the shadows where he calls
Forsaking all his better angels
That's how every empire falls
The bells ring out on Sunday morning
Like echoes from another time
All our innocence and yearning
and sense of wonder left behind
Oh gentle hearts remember
What was that story? Is it lost?
For when religion loses vision
That's how every empire falls.
He toasts his wife and all his family
The providence he brought to bear
They raise their glasses in his honor
Although this union they don't share
A man who lives among them
Was still a stranger to them all
For when the heart is never open
That's how every empire falls
Padlock the door and board the windows
Put the people in the street
"It's just my job," he says "I'm sorry."
And draws a check, goes home to eat
But at night he tells his woman
"I know I hide behind the laws."
She says, "You're only taking orders."
That's how every empire falls.
A bitter wind blows through the country
A hard rain falls on the sea
If terror comes without a warning
There must be something we don't see
What fire begets this fire?
Like torches thrown into the straw
If no one asks, then no one answers
That's how every empire falls
Thanks Wayne. Discovered this today, initially Prine's version, and found the lyrics, but they belong here as well, on this page. Somewhere else here among these comments it was mentioned that it was written 2001 - 2002, and I was already wondering if there was a 9/11 connection, inspiration. Others - Wainwright and Dan Bern - have been so inspired, but if so, this is beyond subtle ...so beautiful
Lightning in a bottle! When message and messenger meld!
Great Song. Stumbled over it when Dan Stuart performed it live on his last tour. He said, it's the best song ever...
No denying.
he shows you can write a lyric that serves the song - even of the hank/3 chords and the truth type - and the mind. if anyone is interested the song "take that ride" has got it going on:
ya he is over looked but l will be with his songs from now on great easy to understand
I love you ~ Do you ever come to Phoenix ?
Where do I buy the Sheet Music for this fantastic song?
PRiceless, Sir!
Who KNOWS which year R.B. Morris composed this, ANYONE?
according to RB it was over 2001-2002
This was written by John Prine. Give credit due
RB Morris wrote this song period.I saw him the first night he performed it in Knoxville TN.
You can still delete your message Margaret.
wow, the story of america's fall under donald trump!