Queensryche - Empire Lyrics






Last night the word came down, ten dead in Chinatown.
Innocent, their only crime was being in the wrong place, at the wrong time
Too bad, people say what's wrong with the kids today
I tell you right 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
Yeah he's got a long way to go.
Now he's out on the streets all day
selling Crack to the people who pay.
Got an AK-47 for his best friend
business the American way.

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 chain in his hand.
Brother killing brother for the profit of another,
Game point, nobody wins. Declines, right on time.
What happened to the dream sublime?
Tear it all down, we'll put it up again. Another EMPIRE?

Eastside meets Westside downtown.
No time, no line, the walls fall down.

Can't you feel it coming? EMPIRE!
Can't you hear it coming EMPIRE!
Can't someone here stop it...??!!





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Queensryche Empire Comments
  1. N.... ....

    AK -47 for his best friend. Business the American way.

  2. B.... ....

    This video brought to you by the Sackler family

  3. M.... D....

    Best vocalist EVER

  4. S.... N....

    STILL GREAT!!!! THE GODFATHERS OF POWER METAL!

  5. M.... R....

    Imagine if you will, a world without Kool-Aid! This video would have 200 million views and everyone would know what it's really all about!

  6. �.... �....

    he's ugly

  7. C.... ....

    This song takes me back to 1990! Saw them open for Iron Maiden 2000, and open for Heaven and Hell, before Ronnie died. Both awesome shows!

  8. V.... F....

    Uhh this is like the most gangster rock I have ever heard. He's talking about selling crack on the corner. Holy shit.

  9. a.... s....

    AWESOME

  10. m.... ....

    SO we made this one video that got famous, so now all our videos have to look like that.

  11. s.... s....

    Queensryche an amazing band ever I love them soooooo much
    This guitars and voice is so gooooood
    Check this small band if you like is very good with woman voice https://youtu.be/Gm9U_pnqAZQ

  12. M.... ....

    Queen Elizabeth I and John Dee brought me here!

  13. J.... J....

    It's hard to believe that this song is 30 yrs old and sounds better than ever.🤘

  14. J.... B....

    Empires domination! Judas priest!!!!!!

  15. J.... B....

    President Trump should use this at his next rally!!!!! Do it j. Jr!!!!! We love President Trump!

  16. F.... ....

    Seeing them in concert ❤️

  17. R.... C....

    I got to see these guys on the Empire tour in Ames Iowa the fall of 1990!! Excellent concert!! Ended the show with an encore of Silent Lucidity!! Doesn't get any better than that.

  18. A.... B....

    Needs to come back to bratfest Madison Wisconsin with Geoff Tate. Best American metal we have fuck van Halen.

  19. S.... ....

    History just keeps repeating... the lesson is there... WHY don't people listen?

  20. P.... H....

    ¨When has an Empire ever risen out of the ruin of the old one? You get one Empire after that the next is pure Evil and leads to fast self destruction! Fools!

  21. L.... J....

    Saw them on this tour in Knoxville, TN back in the day. They performed the entire "Operation: Mindcrime" album on that tour. Killer band, awesome show. On a related note, you can get up to four mini bottles of Jim Beam in an average motorcycle boot before they start to clink together and give the game away.

  22. D.... B....

    🇧🇷 2020

  23. S.... P....

    This still hits now in 2020. So sad! Will it ever change?

  24. J.... N....

    Amazing song!

  25. M.... E....

    A real band

  26. T.... L....

    I hear Empire more than ever today!

  27. R.... G....

    So fucking good

  28. R.... S....

    how about gtr's in the background like wings of an angel

  29. �.... �....

    Великая вещь! Россия знает!)

  30. D.... F....

    I love it when hippies cry about national defense spending 🙄🙄🙄 If it wasn't spent then you wouldn't get to complain.

    D.... F....

    We spend more on welfare programs then on the entire defense budget

    D.... F....

    @Ira Finkelstein And EBT keeps Walmart in business, what could go wrong? Chinese Empire? 😂

  31. S.... S....

    This entire album was radio worthy!!! Too bad radio didnt see it that way!

  32. M.... M....

    De los mejores temas de la historia del heavy, extensible al álbum entero

  33. n.... t....

    Your Mission ..if you choose to accept it ..is to find a Queensryche video ..in a major key ..good luck with that ..out.

  34. L.... N....

    Badass album. Way underrated. Eternal

  35. d.... d....

    This was in my recommend videos??

  36. -.... ....

    One of the Greatest Vocals and Lyrics in the Music History

  37. L.... J....

    Saw them on this tour in Knoxville TN. They did the entire Operation: Mindcrime album on that tour. What a show. On a related note, your standard pair of biker boots can easily accommodate 8 mini bottles of the liquor of your choice.

  38. a.... r....

    Here in 2019 jamming this epic band!!!!!🤘🤘🤘🤘

  39. R.... M....

    Wow The voice of Geoff is marvelous He is the best singer I ever heard Go Band

  40. R.... P....

    Mater Piece!!! Straight up brilliant!!! Who is with me on this?

  41. R.... M....

    As good today as when it was released....

  42. j.... b....

    Queensryche has always been cringe, but a lot of their songs are dope.

  43. P.... S....

    Groundbreaking production on this album. Just another classic album from 1990...so many were released that magic year...one of rock music's best ever...

  44. T.... d....

    The harmonies at 1:23 send chills every time! Not sure who sings with Geoff there but it's awesome.

    T.... d....

    Probably DeGarmo.

  45. D.... G....

    Be avare of the "Empires " they only wants to put under their boots and slave you !!! Freedom,Love,Art and Love for All Humankind !!! Salud y Vida Pa'lante !!! Cheers and Life On !!!

  46. T.... ....

    @ 1:26, Yep, Guys had Sleeve Tats way back then too...just not like today where almost everyone's got one now.

  47. K.... R....

    Yes they deserve to be right up there with the rest of the top rated bands! To bad music industry don't give respect they deserve...

  48. N.... G....

    I love this

  49. B.... T....

    ESPs > LPs.
    Fight me.

  50. E.... E....

    Haven't heard this song for almost 20 years or more ..
    First time in MTV's Headbangers Ball ..
    Seems like fucking yesterday ..
    I kid you not ...time is a bitch..

  51. F.... G....

    Notice the bait and switch they pulled with the law enforcement spending. They first tell you the combined federal, state, and local numbers but then only use the federal amount to do the comparisons to other spending. Yes. The FEDERAL government spent 43 times more on military defense BUUUUT that number goes WAAAAAY down when you include state and local for law enforcement. The total spent on the US justice system in 2017 was about 180 billion. Compared to a proposed $582 billion in military spending (no state or local money) for that same year. So that number goes from 43 times more down to about 3 times more. Yes, I know this was from 1990 but the point is the same. See how easy it is to manipulate numbers. Also, we have a nifty thing called the constitution that limits federal spending on law enforcement and says that is mainly a state and local issue.

    F.... G....

    Mike Rietow Easy WOW? Are you really that stupid! I repeat. You can have a song, an essay, a novel, etc... with an overall message but use several arguments/points/assertions to push forward that message. Can I not take one of those specific points and counter it? Are you being intentionally dense to avoid my argument?

    Tell me. Why do YOU think they list all these other things the federal government spends money on and then contrast it to the little amount spent on law enforcement? What is the point of saying that? Tell me. Why? After three verses telling stories of street/drug crime in the US, any person with two brain cells to rub together could tell you they are saying the federal government cares more about space exploration/defense than inner cities violence.

    But you come back with this red herring “that’s not what it’s about! It’s about an empire!” Wow. Follow the logical progression if you can. Take an aspirin if you get a headache. If your nose starts bleeding, see a doctor.

    What do you think Empire means. It’s drugs empires. Who feels the worst impact of drug empires? Inner cities. Hence the THREE verses telling stories of inner city violence resulting from said empire. THREE VERSUS!
    First: 10 bystanders killed on the street. Second: Hustler needing to carry an AK47 to sell drugs on the streets. THIRD: Homeless man (brother killing brother). And you sit there and say “the song is not referencing street crime as it’s focal point”! WOW! Three versus specifically about that yet you say it is NOT about that. WOW!

    After they give these THREE examples, they make a clear accusation that the Federal government doesn’t care by comparing spending on law enforcement to other things. THAT is the specific point I was countering. Nothing about the violence. The argument made to say the federal government doesn’t care about those THREE VERSES.

    Unless you can explain specifically why my interpretation is wrong by telling me what YOU think it means, i’m going to just drop the mike right here.

    “Not referencing street crime” Hahaha! Three versus but that’s not what we are talking about. My god.

    F.... G....

    Frank Grimes, if you were to take a guess of how the Roman Empires law enforcement expenditures ranked investigating itself, in comparison to Roman Empire bread and circus's expenditures. How would the Roman Empires law enforcement expenditures investigating itself rank? Put down the coloring books and crayons and turn off the cartoons Frank. This isn't that difficult.

    F.... G....

    Mike Rietow ????? So nonsensical gibberish is the way you are going. Roman Empire? REALLY? Bold move but I guess you have limited options at this point.

    Especially when making the claim that this song is not about street violence when three versus are demonstrably about street violence. Intellectual credibility is in the toilet.

    F.... G....

    @Frank Grimes I'll make a couple points here based in fact Frank. You presume according to your analysis of the lyrics, the song is about street crime law enforcement expenditures. When the lyrics in reality (the song) clearly say federal law enforcement expenditures, this should tell you it's not speaking to street corner crime! With the second being I'm not the one of the two of us who doesn't know for fact, exactly what the song is about. If you wanna know I suggest you put down the crayons and coloring books, turn off the cartoons and fake news!


    It's not rocket science Frank.

    F.... G....

    Same goes with gun control

  52. J.... B....

    Enjoy paying at the pump? Joe From the future.

  53. J.... B....

    The name of the game is who is going to pay the most for this?

  54. T.... ....

    Our defiance is a source of pride.

  55. Z.... D....

    Weird to know my mom was friends with these guys in highschool and introduced some of them to eachother... O.o

  56. M.... B....

    And today No Real Space program and we have a Police state. Hmm. Go figure

  57. T.... J....

    Next message: Saved Saturday at 9:24pm. Sorry, it just sorta hit me like a um.....um.... 2 ton heavy thing.

  58. T.... ....

    (new lyrics) The shadows moving with our trail, we leave behind a powerful legacy, the clash of titans, power hungry lords defeated with wisps of smoke, light in abundance keeping demons at bay, unwilling to bend with the tides, but like the wind, unwilling to bend with the wind, but unbreakable, defiance gives way to glory.

  59. h.... ....

    why cant people sing like the 80s anymore lol even if i tried my hardest i couldnt hit that range

  60. W.... H....

    Good guys dont get you bad guys will

  61. F.... L....

    I tell you right now I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m building campfires.

  62. D.... ....

    Dennis Ward brought me here.

  63. M.... M....

    got an AK-47 for his best friend - BUISNESS !!!

  64. T.... U....

    No time the walls fall down.

  65. R.... T....

    black man -Black Man -BLACK MAN! 🔥🔥🔥

  66. s.... ....

    Strong candidate for most underrated guitar solo of all time?

  67. S.... D....

    In fiscal year 1986 to '87, local, state and federal governments spent a combined total of 16.6 billion dollars on law enforcement
    Federal law enforcement expenditures ranked last in absolute dollars and accounted for only 6% of all federal spending
    By way of comparison, the federal government spent 24 million more on space exploration, and 43 times more on national defense and international relations, than law enforcement

    S.... D....

    Yes, because law enforcement dollars come out of local taxes, not federal taxes.

    S.... D....

    We spend more on welfare programs then on the entire defense budget

  68. N.... A....

    A whole handful of drugs for like 60 bucks... Must be a Kmart special.

  69. G.... R....

    Queensryche singer reminds me of Legolas father

  70. S.... H....

    The world needs 80s-90s Queensryche in this day & fucked up age, rock on Geoff

  71. A.... B....

    So underrated band love this band.

  72. h.... d....

    one of the best songs ever.really great voice by geoff tate

  73. D.... H....

    This song still holds true 30 years later! Shame on US!

  74. T.... ....

    10 men down in china town, there only mistake in crime, trying to take whats mine. Got a hand filled with cash in one, loads of throwing knives in the other... business in the east has got alot more time. Got plenty of time for school, but only after hes sliced everything in sight... What happened to dreams? Its behind a ninja mask this time, with the decline. After ninja's done his training. No scar on empire. On the upper east side, its the ninja way, in the far east.. another empire. Can't kill a ninja, there's another ninja inside.

  75. L.... C....

    TOO BAD PEOPLE SAY. QUEENSRYCHE BROKE INTO 2 BANDS // CAN ONLY BE ONE ( QUEENSRYCHE)*

  76. A.... M....

    Unforgettable!

  77. J.... K....

    Definitely one of the best songs of the 90s. I'm a little late to the party tho as I'm 17. I hope I did this song justice with my cover! Feel free to check it out and let me know.

  78. c.... k....

    always the best

  79. A.... P....

    Everlasting!

  80. W.... H....

    Who do i send? Not my gentle son one look at him would only encourage a enemy to attack! Who do i send?...

  81. H.... S....

    A great band, and song, however, politically speaking- blaming drug dealing on what is spent on law enforcement is a misnomer. I mean, all of those liberal nutters that complained about the "war on drugs" don't want law enforcement to do anything but get out of the way...

    H.... S....

    Ask around what this song is about! If it weren't for the censors I'd tell you! Ask around! Or Read the comments there is hints in some (a few) of them. It's not what you think but Trump is supposedly trying to clean it up.

  82. G.... L....

    Superb!

  83. t.... ....

    I live in Seattle. . I know what they talking about.. so many addicts here..

  84. J.... B....

    American Empire = Mystery Babylon

  85. A.... ....

    John petrucci introduced me to this band..

  86. R.... M....

    com touj

  87. R.... M....

    QUEENSRYCHE IS AWESOME!

  88. K.... S....

    Too bad he's fat now and bald because je didn't take care of himself.

    K.... S....

    You'll be there someday too, don't worry :)

    K.... S....

    James H Nein! Das ist schiesse! You'll never see this musician fat and short hair, when in another 10-15 year's the front of my hair is like Phil Collins( who i love) or Angus Young then i'll cut it short. Take care of your looks as a musican for you have a reputation to uphold. Eg could you imagine Ozzy with short hair and fat? Nope!

  89. Q.... H....

    VH1 Classic Metal Mania

  90. G.... ....

    Coming to Seattle! I wanna gooooooooo!!!

  91. W.... H....

    Ya i got you 3 anyway how do you like prison butt neaked westside?

  92. L.... S....

    The talent in this band is completely underrated. Every single member's talent is off the charts.

  93. A.... C....

    You know with All your drug money, You should really Diversify, And Invest, In Like Stocks, Bonds, Small businesses, Large Corporations, Maybe even Donate to Political funds, Or Invest in Hedgefunds, also maybe, World Trade, Stocks, And Bonds. Donate to Your local church, and or Non profit for Tax write offs. You know Start making it Legit, And Become a Titan of all Industry/Business.