Skip to main content

Ellis Paul

Empire State

Steel and girders
They laid my cornerstone in '29
President Hoover
Threw the switch
And the sky was mine
Crowds are lining up 5th Avenue
Mr. DuPont in his top hat's smilin'
Cameras keep flashing
Wall street's crashing, but
the Empire State's
Come rising

I'm the Tower of Babel
You want stories?
I've got stacks
I rose up from the gravel
with the crack of a hammer
The stutter of a jack

I prayed on Black Sunday
For a ticker tape parade
I'm an American story
That's how the Empire State was made

Mohawks on I-beams
Only sky on the hundredth floor
Italians in blue jeans
Irishmen who came here for more
Swinging hammers at half wages
'Cause its better than
The old bread line
These nightshift gypsies
see the lights of Poughkeepsie
Through the clouds
Where the steel beams climb

I'm the Tower of Babel
You want stories?
I've got stacks
I rose up from the gravel
with the crack of a hammer
Threw the gorilla off of my back

I cried that September Tuesday
When the Towers came crumbling down
For as long as I'm standing
I'll be the guardian of New York town
 
From the seventh wonder
of the world
The world is nothin'
But a tiny pearl

I'm the Tower of Babel
You want stories?
I've got stacks
I rose up from the gravel
with the crack of a hammer
A stutter of jack

I don't know what will come tomorrow
I'm standing strong today
I was forged in steel
I'm the king of the newsreel
That's how the Empire State's
Gonna stay

Credits:

Vocals and Acoustic Guitar: Ellis Paul
Bass: Gray Griggs
Drums: Travis McNabb
Keyboards, Percussion: Brandon Bush
Lap Steel: Megan Lovell
Additional Vocals: Kristian Bush
Strings Arrangement by Brandon Bush

Ellis Paul | Ellis Paul Publishing - SESAC
Michael Clem | J Fish Music - SESAC