Description[]
According to Jim Steinman, this song was "written to be the song of the corrupt bloodsuckers who run Gotham City, and stare down from their chrome towers that disembowel the sky, pollutants raining down like a thick clotted rain of decay. It's meant to be comically grotesquely frightening."[1]
Versions[]
An abridged version appears in a draft script of The Dream Engine as the Song of the Indoctrination.
Rob Evan on a Batman demo recording
Meat Loaf on Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose
Rob Fowler on Bat Out Of Hell The Musical: Original Cast Recording
Lyrics[]
Look at them now
What do they want?
And what do they do
Now? Nothing at all
They all live on so aimlessly
But what do they know?
What do they think?
And who do they tell?
Well? No one at all
Their lives are purely meaningless
And we are busy being blessed
With all that we can take and pocket
No one needs to know
We're the plug and they're the socket
Give us the juice and we'll glow
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the animals sing!
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the marketplace sing!
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
How do they sleep?
Their lives are all so tawdry
And they're nothin' but trash
And we're the biggest trash collector
What do you expect?
They've got no standards
Perfect for us
We lower the bar
And we'll open up Pandora's Box
Pandora gave us keys and locks
And they're the victims waiting for their mugger
Come to the confessional
So I can tell you all to bugger off!
No time like now!
And we'll do it our way
Today
In the USA
We know what to say
If you stand in our way
Don't stand in our way
That's our way
No time like today!
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the amputees sing!
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the chosen ones sing!
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the butcher is
King!
Lyrics (The Dream Engine)[]
Can't you hear the choir now?
Listen to the amputees sing?
Can't you hear the slaughterhouse bells?
Listen to their lovely old ring!
In the land of the pig, the Butcher is king!
In the land of the pig, the Butcher is king!
And I'm the only one that's free
For I'd rather have my country die for me!