Queensryche - Empire 1990 1: Best I Can 2: The Thin Line 3: Jet City Woman 4: Della Brown 5: Another Rainy Night (Without You) 6: Empire 7: Resistance 8: Silent Lucidity 9: Hand on Heart 10: One and Only 11: Anybody Listening? 1: Best I Can A child alone in Daddy's room The gun was hidden their No one home to catch me when I fall A young man now in a private chair I've seen the world through a bitter stare But my dream is still alive I'm going to be the best I can I want to be a busy man I want to see a change in the future I'm gonna make the best of what I have I want to write for a magazine I'm gonna be the best they've ever seen I know I'll win if I give it all I can CHORUS I won't let go, gotta make the grade No, I won't let go to be the best man, the best man that I can Back street hoop star you've got it good You uwere the wonder of the crumbling neighborhood Now taking bids on the next six digit plan Showed me that my will survived The tragedy that came into my life Giving me hope and the new start That I have CHORUS Step by step I dream the plan >From my chair to walking man This constant dream is on my mind Caaase the light I see ahead Luminate the path I tread I live to be the best I can Now I'm moving forward And I'm never looking back Straight ahead, focused on the big attack On a roll and I'm never slowing down I won't be torn between The man in the chair And the man that's in my dream I'm going to melt the two men into one CHORUS 2: The Thin Line Another hungry look in her eyes again Pacing the floor The hunt begins Skin-tight leather provides my pleasure Wake my fear, surge wit the pressure Walk away and leave forever, do I dare? Raise my eyes, she stands Holding out healing hands...are you happy now? CHORUS I walk the thin line for you Do just what you say to With fear as my friend I walk the thin line one more time for you Addictive face pretending, don't speak the word Forbidden sin relenting, I barely heard... Screams of entry blur my vision Wake my fear of divine intervention Crawl away and bleed forever, if you dare Hand on mouth the game goes on Love, our stage to play upon Are you happy now? CHORUS 3: Jet City Woman Every time I leave You say you won't be there And you're always there Every time I cry your name at night You pull close and say it's alright I look in your eyes, just like the rain Washing me, rain wash over me Touching your face, I feel the heat of your heartbeat Echo in my head like a scream What you do to me! CHORUS Waited so long I can't wait another day without you Jet City Woman It's a long way, home to my Jet City Woman I see her face everywhere, can't get her out of my mind Whenever I'm alone I'm thinking There's a part missing from my heart Wonder where I'd be without your love Holding me together now I'm Watching the time tick, tick away Face grows longer every day Fortunes are lost on the women I've seen But without you I can't breathe You're the air to me! CHORUS Jet City woman Got to find my way home to her Jet City Woman I see her face everywhere I look! Jet City Woman Just a thousand miles and I'll be there Jet City Woman, to make the clouds go away Time for some blue sky! Waited so long now the plane's delayed An hour, reminds me of all our days apart Hold on, just a little longer Jet City woman Wonder where I7d be, you're the air to me Jet City Woman Eyes like the rain, rain down on me Jet City woman No more nights alone I'm almost home now Jet City Woman Close my eyes, I'm there in my Jet City 4: Della Brown You've got a cardboard house Live there all the time Keep your memories tied with string The face that many once adored Twenty years gone maybe more Somewhere you lost the dream Mama watched your every move, but now you're all alone She's been gone for awhile Daddy left some time ago, fading years pass too slow He's the only one, could make you smile Oh, you're still crying Big city bound Gona make your mark Read your name in the lights All the ads and people say, beauty lets you get you way Tried your best to prove them right But living on the streets ain't bad, sad people make you glad Pardon me, could you spare some change -Oh, you're still crying- Street corner girl Watch the crowd go by Fill your tin can with life Summer days tend to slip away Like your men you couldn't make them stay Hard to choose, whiskey or a wife Sometimes you wonder where's the end Where you goin' where you been? Happiness seems so hard to win Most never care to find Della Brown sees it al the time Looking for that man to make her smile again 5: Another Rainy Night (Without You) Don't slam the door on your way out Don't leave without saying goodbye Another long distance night alone You leave me wanting, always leave me wanting more Last word today, coming home to stay? Wouldn't that be nice, for awhile? But now my take-out food is growing cold And the candle's burned a hole in the floor And I'm still waiting for the ring of the phone CHORUS I'm all alone And it's another rainy night, without you Guess I'll leave the light on for you It's just another rainy night without you Listen, there's a foghorn blowing from the coast tornight Remember making love in the rain? Strange how laughter looks like crying with no sound Raindrops taste like tears, without the pain I'm not much without you, can't leave if I wanted to Maybe that's why you stay around But tonight I'll sit here tending the fire and pace the floor one hundred times in an hour And check the voice-mail for a message you've called CHORUS Waiting by the phone, alone And it's another rainy night without you Hate the sound of the closing door And your footseps walking away But now my takeout food is growing cold and the candle's burned a hole in the floor and I'm still waiting for the ring of the phone CHORUS 6: Empire Last night the word came down Ten dead in Chinatown Innocent, they're only crime was Being in the wrong place at the wrong time Too bad, people say, what's wrong with the kids today? Tell you uright now they've got nothing to lose They're building EMPIRE! Johnny used to work after school At the cinema show Gotta hustle if he wants an education, he's got a long way to go Now he's out on the street all day Selling crack to the people who pay Got an AK-47 for his best friend, business the American way CHORUS Eastside meets westside downtown No time the walls fall down Can't you feel it coming? EMPIRE! Can't you hear it calling? Black man trapped again, holds his chains in his hand Brother killing brother for the profit of another Game point, nobody wins Decline, right on time What happened to the dream sublime? Tear it all down we'll put it up again Another EMPIRE? CHORUS Can't someone here stop it...? 7: Resistance Protests in New York Listen to the call of the wild Brother, sisters carrying signs Breathe deep before it's too late The sky is falling burning your eyes Down in New Orleans River's boiling, nothing living, nothing to eat Thank the Lord, Daddy's working 8-5 Paying the doctor, baby's got cancer CHORUS Give and take Has all we've learned been wrong? Look around at what we've been given Maybe we've taken too long Resistance-shouts the man on the right Can't solve the problem overnight Ristance-listen to the call of the wild Burning coal Got to keep the company warm as the rain keeps killing the trees Cut 'em down quick Pay the man his wage, he's making paper To fuel the "information age" Out in the Midwest, hear the roar of the plough Turning grassland into sand got to feed the people more everyday But the wind keeps blowing the land away CHORUS Resistance-liberal opposition crying violation Stop the madness Resistance-through the din, one voice we should hear Resistance-listen to the call of the wild There's no easy solution The price is high, and it's time to pay Turn of the century vision, focused on a better way CHORUS 8: Silent Lucidity Hush now don't cry Wipe away the teardrop from your eye You're lying safe in bed It was all a bad dream Spinning in your head Your mind tricked you to feel the pain Of someone close to you leaving the game of life So here it is, another chance Wide awake you face the day Your dream is over...or has it just begun? There's a place I like to hide A doorway that I run to in the night Relax child, you were there But only didn't realize it and you were scared It's a place where you will learn To face your fears, retrace the tears And ride the whims of your mind Commanding in another world Suddenly, you hear and see This magic new dimension CHORUS I-will be watching over you I-am gonna help you see it through I-will protect you in the night I-am smiling next to you...in silent lucidity If you open your mind for me You won't rely on open eyes to see The walls you built within Come tumblng down, and a new world will begin Living twice at once you learn You7re safe froom pain in the dream domain A soul set free to fly A round trip journey in your head Master of illusion, can you realize Your dream's alive, you can be the guide but... CHORUS 9: Hand on Heart All eyes were staring you floated through the room Aarmed with your razor smile cutting to the bone My voice fell useless you flashed a quick "Hello" Feeling the fool, could you tell it showed? But that was "sometime ago" A memory vague and fading slow, of somewhere I'd been HAND ON HEART A promise, a word, and a voice HAND ON HEART A rhythm of hope and choice will keep us together I don't know if I can reach that high It's a long way to fall Hauntingly holding my fate with a gaze Like a child mesmerized by the candle's flame Oh what lies behind those eyes I could only guess That certain way you stood apart frome rest Now where is "sotime ago?" Whene everything moved in slow-mo-tion Caught by my watering eye HAND ON HEART A Promise, a word and a voice HAND ON HEART Promising I'll never go HAND ON HEART For reasons you'll never know, together through thick and thin, Lose or win, I'll be there for you Strange how the mind changes time and time again Thins once important now pale in comparison HAND ON HEART A promise, a word, and a voice HAND ON HEART A rhythm of hope, and a vision of choice HAND ON HEART Promising I'll never go HAND ON HEART for reasons you'll never know I promise girl, hand on heart 10: One and Only Back in '86 February and a special number I just had to know Is this feeling real I picked up the phone I was one step closer to the danger zone I knew she'd steal my heart away But I know I couldn't live without her love The first time she looked at me Her smile stayed on my mind I never thought I7d ever meet A woman of her kind Now I'm lost in a lover's daze And I'm not walking out Gonna give my heart away and hope that she will always stay CHORUS Call for me, run to me Whenever you are lonely Call for me, run to me my lady love Won't you come and show me that precious smile and maybe stay awhile close the door Toss the key Say that you will always be my one and only Looking back it seems to me The message in her eyes Left a lasting spell on me A feeling I can't hide Now I'm lost in a lover's daze And I'm not walking out Gonna give my heart away and hope that she will always stay CHORUS 11: Anybody Listening? You and I long to live like wind upon the water If we close our eyes we'll maybe realize There's more to life than what we have known And I can't believe I've spent so long Living lies I knew were wrong inside I've just begun to see the light Long ago there was a dream, had to make a choice or two Leaving all I loved behind for what nobody knew Stepped out on the stage A life under lights and judging eyes Now the applause has died and I can dream again... Is there anybody listening? Is there anyone that sees what's going on? Read between the lines, criticize the words they're selling Think for yourself and feel the walls Become sand beneath your feet Fell the breeze? Time's so near you ucan almost taste the freedom There's a warm wind from the south Hoist the sail and we'll be gone By morning, this will all seem like a dream And if I don't return to sing the song, maybe just as well I've seen the news and there's not much I can do...alone Is there anybody listening? g Is there anyone who smiles without0 a mask? What's behind the words-images They know will please us? I'll take what's real Bring up the lights Is therew anybody listeing? Is there anyone that sees what's going one? Read between the lines Criticize the words they're selling Think for yourself and feel the walls Become sand beneath your feet.