10000 Maniacs - Bread & Circuses lyrics

[ billy bragg and natalie merchant ]<br><br><br>Crowds gather round kneeling at the feet of common thieves<br>Hungry for the word, but God would never speak through such as these,<br>Such as these<br>Who offer healing hands and balms, and redemption, a few would cross<br>Their palms<br>They'll tell your troubles to the lord for how ever much you can afford<br><br>Hands holding hands in the circle of the sinners and the saints<br>Memories that linger from the cradle, placing puzzles in the grave,<br>In the grave<br>No mortal skin and bone can live on bread and circuses alone<br>The spirit needs, must drive the mystery of why you're alive<br><br>Chorus:<br><br>They look and their book and they read<br>But their cold hearts say, follow me<br><br>Dance in the dust in the frenzy of the desperately in need<br>Led by the voices of the men who invoke ritual to hide their greed,<br>Hide their greed<br>Come every tongue, every eye across the crumbling earth and cracking skies<br>The gates of hell stand open wide, but the path of glory you walk single<br>File<br><br>(chorus)<br><br>These men make a cage for the very souls that came here to be free<br><br>They turn off their lights for their tents they're fixing to leave<br><br>(instrumental)<br><br>Follow me<br><br>(chorus 2x)<br><br>They'll close their book and leave, but you'll remain still in pain