Skyscrapers In Memphis Lyrics - John Wesley Harding

They say that the dead live forever 

And round here well they probably do 

If you stand by the gates outside graceland 

You can watch all the dead coming through 

It's necropolis and welcome to it 

It's an archaeological find 

They'll be digging up this town forever 

They'll be digging up this empty mine 

The indians stand on the scaffold 

They've taken the egyptians place 

The pharaohs and the politicians 

Are planning their perfect escape 

So they build a memorial tower 

Like the ancient texts said that they would 

But stories aren't told by the victims 

And that's why this story's so good 

Have you seen the skyscrapers in memphis 

Do you see how they rise like the sun 

And the statues they look just like spacemen 

Looking down on everyone 

And there's art by the yard in the hallways 

And our houses are made out of slime 

But the skyscrapers almost touch heaven 

Did we escape from the mud this time? 

So look at the bar-chart skyline 

And look at the graph on the wall 

But don't you ignore the byline 

When the headline says "empire falls" 

The buildings get stranger and taller 

Til we see that sphinx up on mars 

So prepare your most pertinent questions 

But please don't expect any answers 

One last look round the museum 

The one where the bullets still fly 

But don't blink if you wish to see them 

Puncture the mummy's good eye 

As the lift hits the five figure numbers 

The relics of ages long gone 

The tomb of the unknown protest singer 

The computer of king tutankhamun 

Have you seen the skyscrapers in memphis 

Do you see how they rise like the sun 

And the statues they look just like spacemen 

Looking down on everyone 

And there's art by the yard in the hallways 

And our houses are made out of slime 

But the skyscrapers they almost touch heaven 

Did we escape from the mud this time?