[Intro]
The flags came down at morning light
The streets were quiet after the fight

[Verse]
I heard the tower bells confess
The whole damn city held its breath
A thousand windows watched me fall
Like judgment painted on the walls

The men who cheered me yesterday
Were first in line to turn away
The women wept, the papers lied
The palace burned from the inside

[Pre-Chorus]
No army came
No angels cried
Just silence standing by my side

[Chorus]
When the empire bleeds
Every stone remembers greed
Every golden gate comes down
Every king becomes the ground

When the empire bleeds
There is no one left to lead
Only truth beneath the flame
Calling out my name

[Verse]
I saw my face on every screen
A fallen man, a broken dream
They cut the story into parts
And fed the wolves my private heart

But worse than every public scar
Was knowing how I came this far
I built the blade, I held it high
Then acted shocked when it touched the sky

[Pre-Chorus]
No crown remained
No throne survived
Just one last truth alive

[Chorus]
When the empire bleeds
Every stone remembers greed
Every golden gate comes down
Every king becomes the ground

When the empire bleeds
There is no one left to lead
Only truth beneath the flame
Calling out my name

[Breakdown]
I did this
I knew this
I fed the fire
I became the ruins
Of my own desire

[Bridge]
If there is mercy in the dust
If there is something left of trust
Let me fall until I see
The man I buried underneath

[Solo]

[Chorus]
When the empire bleeds
Every stone remembers greed
Every golden gate comes down
Every king becomes the ground

When the empire bleeds
There is no one left to lead
Only truth beneath the flame
Calling out my name

[Outro]
The flags came down at morning light
But I survived the longest night