Empires Crumble

When we're nineteen
And looking at the world
Through all-knowing eyes
Solutions are unfurled
And no problem's too big or too small
Too heavy or too light
You know it's all very easy
When it's in black and white

Then I looked in
The mirror one day
And I swear
That I saw some grey
I suddenly realized
Life's too short to be trite
You've got to believe in something
But not hold on too tight

        Because the world keeps on spinning
        Wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And so, all things must change

And then I looked
At my first-born son
He said I'm sorry dad I can't stay
Because I've got to run
And I know he's out saving the world
Like I used to do
But somehow I think it's gonna
Take more than just us two

        And the world keeps on spinning
        Wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And so, all things must change

And then I read
An old essay by my dad
I'm sure some people
Must have found him quite mad
Suggesting that Thomas More's Utopia
Was some kind of a Marxian thing
But now at least I know where I got
Some of my thinking

        And the world keeps on spinning
        Wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And so, all things must change

We still like to look at the world
Through our rose-colored glasses only now they're
Disposable, delivered-to-your-home-in-one-hour
Rose-colored contact lenses
And before you can afford them
You've got to find a home
You've got to find your idealism a home

        Because the world keeps on spinning
        Wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And so, all things must change

And as we get older
And tired of being down
We see that pessimism is easy
But that hope still abounds
And sometimes I think the world of humans
Is not that bad a place
And sometimes I even think us white folks
Might not be that bad a race

        And the world keeps on spinning
        Wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And the world keeps on spinning
        And wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And the world keeps on spinning
        And wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And the world keeps on spinning
        And wearing mountains down
        And wild rivers dry up
        Good friends leave town
        Empires crumble into the ground
        And so all things must change
        And so all things must change
        And so all things must change