In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The women all control their men with razors and with wrists
And the princess squeezes grape juice on a torrid bloody kiss
What will you be wearing there, the lion or the raven hair?
The flesh will all be tearing but the tail will be my own
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
This one's for the balcony and this one's for the floor
As the senators decapitate the presidential whore
The bald-headed senators are splashing in the blood
The dogs are having someone who is screaming in the mud
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
Now it's raining and it's pouring on the pillaging and goring
The constable is swinging from the chains
For the dead there is no story, no memory, no blame
Their families shout blue murder but tomorrow it's the same
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, we call 'em as we see 'em
In the colosseum tonight
That slowly-acting poison will be given to the favorite one
The dark horse will bring glory to the jailer and his men
It's always much more sporting when there's families in the pit
And the madness of the crowd is an epileptic fit
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, we call 'em as we see 'em
In the colosseum tonight
No justice here, no liberty, no reason, No blame
There's no cause to taint the sweetest taste of blood
And greetings from the nation as we shake the hands of time
They're taking their ovations, the vultures stay behind
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum tonight
And the princess squeezes grape juice on a torrid bloody kiss
What will you be wearing there, the lion or the raven hair?
The flesh will all be tearing but the tail will be my own
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
This one's for the balcony and this one's for the floor
As the senators decapitate the presidential whore
The bald-headed senators are splashing in the blood
The dogs are having someone who is screaming in the mud
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
Now it's raining and it's pouring on the pillaging and goring
The constable is swinging from the chains
For the dead there is no story, no memory, no blame
Their families shout blue murder but tomorrow it's the same
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, we call 'em as we see 'em
In the colosseum tonight
That slowly-acting poison will be given to the favorite one
The dark horse will bring glory to the jailer and his men
It's always much more sporting when there's families in the pit
And the madness of the crowd is an epileptic fit
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, we call 'em as we see 'em
In the colosseum tonight
No justice here, no liberty, no reason, No blame
There's no cause to taint the sweetest taste of blood
And greetings from the nation as we shake the hands of time
They're taking their ovations, the vultures stay behind
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum, in the colosseum
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum tonight
In the colosseum tonight
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by Mellow_Harsher
In the Colosseum Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It certainly feels like it at times.
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Yeah, he's saying actions speak louder than words, and while politicians fight with words and try to change things with ideas, we are being shot, stabbed, beat up, carjacked and robbed. They won't raise the minimum wage, they won't reform low-income locations, it's like they're the spectators who say "let's kill the poor but make it look like they're killing each other".