Charlatan brought such quality to the captivated crowd
But all along there were traps under their feet

In retrospect, there were such signs and signals
None of us recognized his photo on the walls
All we knew was that shiny things were so very pretty
Blanketed, choking on jewels in our jaws

Stop chanting and beating your chest
There's no cops
They've been chained in the cells and the stocks
Shut your eyes as the other shoe drops
Give a smile for the firing squad

Photographed, our mouths like open windows
Films and flags fought off the last of our resolve
The charlatan tripped the traps
We plunged feet-first into the gaps
Applauding as the earth collapsed

Pause
Your microscopes yield no fundamental flaws
Fall asleep to the clenching of jaws
When you wake up
Your eyes will be crossed from the blunt trauma of public relations

Charlatan brought such quality to the captivated crowd
But all along there were traps under their feet
Charlatan brought such falsity to the captivated crowd
But all along they were swallowing deceit
Charlatan brought such guarantees to the captivated crowd
But all along they were celebrating defeat
All along they were swallowing deceit
All along there were traps under their feet

performance:

dennis harvey: all instruments | voice

composition/production:

dennis harvey: composition | lyrics | mastering | mixing | production | recording