In The Colosseum, Bone Machine, Tom Waits [196]

For this bread-and-circus-iest (breadiest and circusiest?) of tracks, guest host Jenny Owen Youngs comes out strong for Waits and his political diatribe... while Sam and Martin are more equivocal. Song by Song is Martin Zaltz Austwick and Sam Pay; two musicians listening to and discussing every single Tom Waits track in chronological order. website: songbysongpodcast.com twitter: @songbysongpod e-mail: [email protected] Music extracts used for illustrative/review purposes include: In the Colosseum, Bone Machine, Tom Waits (1992) Pretend We're Dead, Bricks Are Heavy, L7 (1992) We think your Song by Song experience will be enhanced by hearing, in full, the songs featured in the show, which you can get hold of from your favourite record shop or online platform. Please support artists by buying their music, or using services which guarantee artists a revenue - listen responsibly. Lyrics - In the Colosseum 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 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 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 A 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... 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 tonight...