A song about the life cycle of dictators

Triumphantly you mount your steed 
  And parade the boulevard 
The trumpets sound and flowers fly 
  It's the changing of the guard 

Men strew your path with gifts of gold 
  As they pledge their loyalty 
The table's set and the feast begins 
  To celebrate your destiny 

You're the chief now and your enemy died hard
The judge wipes a dagger on his cloak 
Your hands are clean but smoke still lingers in the air 
And liars laugh before you tell your joke 

You wave your fist and pledge reform 
  But you give stale bread to eat 
While your mistress soaks in a golden bath 
  Men and dogs patrol the street 

Your mustache and your happy grin 
  Adorn ev'ry school and bar 
But you spend each night in a diff'rent house 
  And need a fleet of decoy cars 

You wear medals just like you Dad before 
He killed a million people in his time 
Graves in the highlands and corpses in the sea 
He never paid a minute for his crime 

The wind whispers of a coup  d'etat 
  And you feel a sudden chill 
The stolen ballots have now been found 
  There's guerillas in the hills 

The time has come to wave the flag 
  And send the troops off to war 
But the walls close in and you can't trust 
  Your own brother any more 

The hour is near when the piper must be pad 
The sky is gray and it looks like rain 
The lights are out and your bags are packed 
The plane awaits but will you make the plane? 

-- Joshua Wachtel and Alexei Panshin