Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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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he is talking about us, as a nation... we are the ones in the colosseum
It certainly feels like it at times.
"we're all kind of marooned in this place where information and ideas become very abstract, but yet the hyena is still tearing at the flesh."- Tom Waits about this song.
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".
It's definitely more about America than Rome. The giveaway is the line about the "presidential whore" - Rome had emperors, not presidents. Great song, but not for the squeamish, you can hear the catarrh rattling in his lungs.