From the album ‘Circus Maximus‘ (1986).
Lyrics
(TARQUINIUS) – O Dr Faust I’ve got a pain
Where I sit on the throne
Where an Englishman’s home is his kingdom
(FAUST) – Mr Tarquinius of Romford
You’ve got blue blood on the brain
But I know a Roman sanatorium
Where they’ll cure you with a story
From 2500 years ago:
The Rape of Lucretia
(TARQUINIUS) – O Dr Faust
Abroad I shall not go
The past, so they say, is a foreign country
And abroad equally
(FAUST) – Mr Tarquinius of Romford
Since you stubbornly insist
I’ll administer the history of democracy
Beginning when a woman was done by the son of the king:
The Rape of Lucretia
Romulus and Remus
Orphans of the forest
Grow to their majority
Throw up their hands in horror
The democratic gesture
When Sextus puts his Sextus where no king should he
Singing "We who are about to die salute thee!"
The Rape of Lucretia
(TARQUINIUS) – O Dr Faust
I should’ve guessed
That a doctor named after the self-confessed lover
Of Mephistopheles would say "Take two of these after meals"
And mean leeches – for all your fine speeches
Your anthem is "Where the beast sucks there suck I"
(FAUST) – Mr Tarquinius of Romford
You may set your mind at rest
My soul’s not with the devil but the NHS
And although I am loathe to
I’ve taken an oath to
Cure people like you who think SPQR stands for
"Sense Prevents the Queen’s Removal"
The Rape of Lucretia
Romulus and Remus
Orphans of the forest
Grow to their majority
Throw up their hands in horror
The democratic gesture
When Sextus puts his Sextus where no king should he
Singing "We who are about to die salute thee!"
The Rape of Lucretia
Romulus and Remus
May your example lead us
Your brotherhood and merit be our guiding force
You ushered in democracy, you understood that monarchy
Stands by incest, falls by sexual intercourse
We’ll be singing: "We who are about to die salute thee!"
The Rape of Lucretia
Momus 