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Love, as the Empire Fell

from Ghosts by J. P. Whipple (Barefoot John Whipple)

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about

I wrote this just before leaving the US for my first Europe tour. I had the American Empire on my mind and was deep in thought about how I was going to be perceived as an American abroad. Fortunately, it was after Obama was elected which probably restored more hope overseas than it did here (Bush and his wars are almost universally despised in Western Europe). My first trip featured performing for listening audiences rather than playing bars and clubs. I was a bit freaked out. Not only was I not used to people sitting quietly and giving me their undivided attention but being a songwriter whose main strength is his lyrics I was not sure how well my very American oriented songs would translate to Dutch and Belgian audiences. Surprisingly, this song about the decline of empire was one of their favorites. In fact, I would venture to say they like it better than most Americans.

lyrics

Love, as the Empire Fell

I held you close
As the walls came down
When they all fell back
We stood our ground
Out there among the ruins
And all the crap we couldn’t sell
It was only love as the empire fell.

We were there
From the beginning
We knew all along
We were never the ones winning
But don’t you know business
Had never done so well
It was only love as the empire fell.

We watched the trucks drive off into the night
We never thought they’d put up such a fight… just because they were right.

Now the hotel is boarded up
The night club is shut down
Even all the locals
Have fled town
There’s no trace of the lies
We used to sell
It was only love as the empire fell.

We made our choice
We took our turn
We made love
As the villages burned
We found a paradise
So we gave it hell
It was only love as the empire fell.

credits

from Ghosts, released January 19, 2013

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J. P. Whipple (Barefoot John Whipple) Salt Lake City, Utah

J. P. Whipple is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has spent a life drifting across the country singing old time roots, blues, and country.

He is a founding member of the psychedelic band Tycoon Machete: tycoonmachete.bandcamp.com
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