Mother, at my first breath Every paragraph was set As I inhaled the scent of debt Mother, that first stolen air Taken as a legal sign On papers saying I'm not mine We crown you, the King of Loss Better get on your feet Best be one of us Better get yourself on the list For success Dress up as a State investment Charm the press A breed from the seed of only One short breath Mother, hence we cry Some of us are free to stand Most of us are bound to lie In those bloodstained beds No one can afford to pay The prices on their babies' heads I am the king of loss For every dear smile I feel I'm not one of us An ivory coin for every plus on your stone One more governmental blade Now drawn from its private sheath Quite a bargain I'd say since either way You will live by the show of our teeth Mother, I wish that we could talk You see I'm not fit to play this game Bound by its rules just the same My talents are turned to talons For every monetary pile Will buy me a precious smile Smile So smile for the King of Loss Feed from the juices Bleeding from this cross Then tell me our lives mean more Than this vain thirst! A governmental blade Drawn from its private sheath Quite a bargain I'd say, since either way You'll be living by the show of our I hold up my head This was my life Now I'm with the dead So I lay my bare neck This is your call Dub a king or a wreck (Mother, listen to me mother) This was my life This is your call Is this all I am? Is this all I'll be? This is not enough! We're all crying for respect and attention We're all dying for a painless redemption! This is not what I wanted But for every drop of blood I lost myself I, too, lay bleeding on the sidewalk Mother Long live the dying king A governmental blade Now drawn from its private sheath Quite a bargain I'd say, since either way I will live by the show of your teeth