(Geoff Tate/Michael Wilton)
    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...?
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