Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional film actor.
He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1983, a group known for its eclectic influences and musical styles. Before that, he had fronted the group The Birthday Party in the early 1980s, a band renowned for its highly gothic, challenging lyrics and violent sound influenced by free jazz, blues, and post-punk. In 2006, he formed the garage rock band Grinderman that released its debut the following year. Cave's music is generally characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences and lyrical obsessions with religion, death, love and violence.
Upon Cave's induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, ARIA Awards committee chairman Ed St John said, “Nick Cave has enjoyed—and continues to enjoy—one of the most extraordinary careers in the annals of popular music. He is an Australian artist like Sidney Nolan is an Australian artist—beyond comparison, beyond genre, beyond dispute."
I felt you coming girl as I drew you near
I knew you'd find me cause I longed you here
are you my destiny, is this how you'll appear
wrapped in a coat with tears in your eyes
well take that coat baby and throw it on the floor
Are you the one that I've been waiting for
You've been moving surely towards me
my soul has comforted and assured me
that in time my heart it will reward me
and that all will be revealed
Laura
I've sat and I've watched an ice-age thaw
Are you the one that I've been waiting for
Out of sorrow entire worlds have been built
out of longing great wonders have been willed
they're only little tears darling let them spill
and lay your head upon my shoulder
Outside my window the world has gone to war
are you the one that I've been waiting for
We will know won't we
stars will explode in the sky
but they don't do they
stars have their moments then they die
There's a man who spoke wonders though I never met him
he said "He who seek finds, and who knocks will be let in"
I think of you in motion and just how close you are getting
and how every little thing anticipates you
Down through my veins my heartstrings call
are you the one that I've been waiting for
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(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
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I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe
I had a dream, Joe
You were standing in the middle of an open road
I had a dream, Joe
Your hands were raised up to the sky
And your mouth was covered in foam
I had a dream, Joe
A shadowy Jesus flitted from tree to tree
I had a dream, Joe
And a society of whores stuck needles in an image of me
I had a dream, Joe
It was Autumn time and thickly fell the leaves
And in that dream, Joe
A pimp in seersucker suit sucked a toothpick
And pointed his finger at me
I had a dream,
I had a dream,
I had a dream, Joe
I opened my eyes, Joe
The night had been a giant, dribbling and pacing the boards
I opened my eyes, Joe
All your letters and cards stacked up against the door
I opened my eyes, Joe
The morning light came slowly tumbling through the crack
In the window, Joe
And I thought of you and I felt like I was lugging
A body on my back
I had a dream,
I had a dream,
I had a dream, Joe
Where did you go, Joe?
On that endless, senseless, demented drift
Where did you go, Joe?
Into the woods, into the trees, where you move and shift
Where did you go, Joe?
All dressed up in your ridiculous seersucker suit
Where did you go, Joe?
With that strew of wreckage
Forever at the heel of your boot
I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe
I had a dream
I had a dream
I had a dream, Joe
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I stood in the water
In the middle month of winter
My camel skin was torture
I was in a state of nature
The wind, sir, it was wicked
I was so alone
Just as I predicted
My followers were gone
And I cried 'Mercy'
Have mercy upon me
And I got down on my knees
Thrown into a dungeon
Bread and water was my portion
Faith - my only weapon
To rest the devil's legion
The speak-hole would slide open
A viper's voice would plead
Thick with innuendo
Syphilis and Greed
And she cried 'Mercy'
Have mercy upon me
And I told her to get down on her knees
In a garden full of roses
My hands, tied behind me
My cousin was working miracles
I wondered if he'd find me
The moon was turned toward me
Like a platter made of gold
My death, it almost bored me
So often was it told
And I cried 'Mercy'
I cried mercy on me
Cryind 'Mercy'
Have mercy on me
Elvis Presley
In The Ghetto (The Vicious Circle)
==================================
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down in the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
As her young man dies,
on a cold and grey Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
In the ghetto
In the ghetto
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Ah'm enquirin on behalf of his soul
Ah'd be beholdin to ya all
For a lil information, yes some kinda information
Just who'll dig the hole?
When ya done ransackin his room
grabbin anything that shines,
throw the scrap down on the street
Like all his books and his notes.
All the junk that he wrote
the whole fucken lot right up in smoke
Aint there nuthin sacred anymore
Someone will build a box for Black Paul?
And there shootin off his guns
and there shootin off their mouths
saying 'Fuck with us ... and die!'
(Let's see that rat of fear go scuttle in their skulls)
'Cover that eye! Cover that frozen eye!'
Black-puppet, in a heap up against the stoning-wall
Blud-puppet, go to sleep, ma-ma won't scold ya anymore
Armies of ants, wade up the lil red streams
they're headin for the mother-pool
O lord, it's cruel, O man it's hot!
And some of them ants they yes ilot to the spot
Who threw the first stone at Black Paul?
'Don't ack us', say the critics and the hacks
The pen-pushers and the quacks
'We jes cum to git dah facks!'
'We jes cum to git dah facks!'
Hey,hey,hey,hey...
Here is the hammer, that build the scaffold,
and built the box...
Here is the shovel, that dug the hole,
in this ground of rocks...
And here is the pile of stones!
and for each one planted, God only knows,
a blud-rose grown...
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
Stand back everyone! Blud-black everyone!
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Who'll carry it up the hill?
Not I', said the widow, adjusting his veil
'Ah will not drive the nail
Or cart his puppet-body home,
For ah done that one hundred times before,
Yeah! ah done that one hundred times or more,
And why should ah dress his wounds?
When he has wounded my dress, nighty,
Right across the floor'
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Who'll carry it up the hill?
Who'll bury it in the black-soil?
And from the words and the thickets
Come the ghosts of his victims
'We love you!'
'Ah love you!'
'and this will not hurt a bit,
we'll go up,up,up,up,up into Death
up,up,up,up, inhale its breath
O yeah, Death favours those that favor Death'
Here is the stone, and this is the inscription at bare
'Below Lies Black Paul, Under The Upper...
But Above and Beyond The Surface-Flat-Fall There.'
And all the angels come on down,
And all you men and women crowd around
And all the widows weeping into their skirts
And all the lil gals and the lil Boys
And the scribes with mein-pens parsed
All the hullaballoo, all the norse
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All the hullaballoo, all of the noise
clears his throat of black blut
singin Black Paul like a lonely boy...
We-e-e-ll, ah have cryed one thousand tears
Ah've cryed a thousand tears, its true
And the next stormy night ya know,
That ah'm still cryin them for you
Well, ah had a gal she was so sweet,
Red dress, and long red hair hangin down
And heaven yes ain't heaven
Without that lil gal hangin around
Well, ya know ah've loin a bad-man
and Lord knows ah dun some good things too
But ah confess, my soul will never rest
Until you, until you build
Until ya build a box for my gal, too.
I live in a town called Millhaven
And it's small and it's mean and it's cold
But if you come around just as the sun goes down
You can watch the whole town turn to gold
It's around about then that I used to go a-roaming
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all gotta die
My name is Loretta but I prefer Lottie
I'm closing in on my fifteenth year
And if you think you have seen a pair of eyes more green
Then you sure didn't see them around here
My hair is yellow and I'm always a-combing
La la la la La la la lie
Mama often told me we all got to die
You must have heard about The Curse Of Millhaven
How last Christmas Bill Blake's little boy didn't come home
They found him next week in One Mile Creek
His head bashed in and his pockets full of stones
Well, just imagine all the wailing and moaning
La la la la La la la lie
Even little Billy Blake's boy, he had to die
Then Professor O'Rye from Millhaven High
Found nailed to his door his prize-winning terrier
Then next day the old fool brought little Biko to school
And we all had to watch as he buried her
His eulogy to Biko had all the tears a-flowing
La la la la La la la lie
Even God's little creatures, they have to die
Our little town fell into a state of shock
A lot of people were saying things that made little sense
Then the next thing you know the head of Handyman Joe
Was found in the fountain of the Mayor's residence
Foul play can really get a small town going
La la la la La la la lie
Even God's children all have to die
Then, in a cruel twist of fate, old Mrs Colgate
Was stabbed but the job was not complete
The last thing she said before the cops pronounced her dead
Was, 'My killer is Loretta and she lives across the street!'
Twenty cops burst through my door without even phoning
La la la la La la la lie
The young ones, the old ones, they all gotta die
Yes, it is I, Lottie. The Curse Of Millhaven
I've struck horror in the heart of this town
Like my eyes ain't green and my hair ain't yellow
It's more like the other way around
I gotta pretty little mouth underneath all the foaming
La la la la La la la lie
Sooner or later we all gotta die
Since I was no bigger than a weavil they've been saying I was evil
That if 'bad' was a boot that I'd fit it
That I'm a wicked young lady, but I've been trying hard lately
O fuck it! I'm a monster! I admit it!
It makes me so mad my blood really starts a-going
La la la la La la la lie
Mama always told me that we all gotta die
Yeah, I drowned the Blakey kid, stabbed Mrs. Colgate, I admit
Did the handyman with his circular saw in his garden shed
But I never crucified little Biko, that was two junior high school psychos
Stinky Bohoon and his friend with the pumpkin-sized head
I'll sing to the lot, now you got me going
La la la la La la la lie
All God's children have all gotta die
There were all the others, all our sisters and brothers
You assumed were accidents, best forgotten
Recall the children who broke through the ice on Lake Tahoo
Everyone assumed the 'Warning' signs had followed them to the bottom
Well, they're underneath the house where I do quite a bit of stowing
La la la la La la la lie
Even twenty little children, they had to die
And the fire of '91 that razed the Bella Vista slum
There was the biggest shit-fight this country's ever seen
Insurance companies ruined, land lords getting sued
All cause of wee girl with a can of gasoline
Those flames really roared when the wind started blowing
La la la la La la la lie
Rich man, poor man, all got to die
Well I confessed to all these crimes and they put me on trial
I was laughing when they took me away
Off to the asylum in an old black Mariah
It ain't home, but you know, it's fucking better than jail
It ain't such bad old place to have a home in
La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all gotta die
Now I got shrinks that will not rest with their endless Rorschach tests
I keep telling them they're out to get me
They ask me if I feel remorse and I answer, 'Why of course!
There is so much more I could have done if they'd let me!'
So it's Rorschach and Prozac and everything is groovy
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all have to die
La la la la La la la lie
I'm happy as a lark and everything is fine
Singing La la la la La la la lie
Yeah, everything is groovy and everything is fine
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they gotta die
I got a woman
SHe rules my house with an iron fist
I got a woman
She rules my house with an iron fist
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
We bed in a bucket of butcher's knives
A awake with a hatchet hanging over my head
Well you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Yeah, you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Well they're hissing under the floorboards
Hanging down in bunches from my roof
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
They dragged Jack and his shadow
From the hole
And the bulb that burned above him
Did shine both day and night
And his shadow learned to love his
Little darks and greater light
And the sun it shined
And the sun it shined
And the sun it shined
A little longer
Jack wept and kissed his shadow
"Goodbye"
Spat from their dirty dungeons
Into a truly different din
Shat from their institutions
Into a fully different din
And his shadow soon became a wife
And children plagued his latter life
Until one night he took a skinning knife
And stole into the town
And tracked his shadow down
Said the shadow to Jack Henry
"What's wrong?"
Jack said "A home is not a hole"
"And shwdow, you're just a gallow that I hang my body from"
"O Shadow, your a shackle from wich my time is never done"
Then he peeled his shadow off in strips
He peeled his shadow off in strips
Then kneeled his shadow on some steps
And cried "What have I done?"
And the sun it shined
And the sun it shined
I say "Love is blind"
"And is it any wonder?!"
"And is it any wonder?!"
Jacked and his damned shadow
Is gone
And though each one of us are want to duly mourn
And though each one of us are want to duly mourn
'Tis done in brighter corners now
'Tis done in brighter corners now
Now that Jack's black shadow's gone
And the sun it shined
And the sun it shined
And the sun it shined
A little stronger
I swear, love is blind
Ooh, love is blind
Yeah, love is blind
And is it any wonder?
'Tis done in brighter corners now
'Tis done in brighter corners now
Now that Jack's black shadow's gone
Etcetera Etcetera
Jangling Jack
Goes Yackety Yack
Visits the home of the brave
Hails a fat yellow cab
Jack wanna celebrate
Jack wanna big drink
Driver drops him at a bar
Called the Rinky Dink
Jack pushes through the door
And crosses the floor
Tips his hat to a man
Grinning in the corner
Going Do da do Do da do
Says, I'm Jangling Jack
I go Do da do
I wanna Rinky Dink Special
I wanna little umbrella too
Jack flops on his stool
Sees the grinning man laugh
So Jack laughs back
Jack raises his glass
Says, God bless this country
And everything in it
The losers and the winners
The good guys and the sinners
The grinning man says, Buddy
It's all Yackety Yack
Whips out a little black pistol
Shoots a bullet in Jack
Jangling Jack
Do Da Do Do Da Do
Jangling Jack
How do you Do Da Do
Jangling Jack Flies off his seat
Crashes through the door
Lands in a heap on the street
Hears his mother's voice
Going, Do do do
Jack is shouting
Mummy is that you?
He sees the berserk city
Sees the dead stacked in piles
Sees the screaming crowd
Screams, Where am I?
Going Do da do Going Do da do
Well Jangling Jack
As a matter of fact
Crawls through the crowd
Back into the bar
Jack crawls to his stool
Jack drags himself up
Falls back down on his arse
In a puddle of blood
Going Goodbye Mummy
Goodbye Goodbye
Jack doubles over
And he vomits and dies
Going Do do do Going Do do do
Kiss me again, rekiss me and kiss me
Slip your frigid hands beneath my shirt
This useless old fucker with his twinkling cunt
Doesn't care if he gets hurt
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
If it were but a matter of faith
If it were measured in petitions and prayer
She would materialise, all fleshed out
But it is not, nor do I care
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
So hold me and hold me, don't tell me your name
This morning will be wiser than this evening is
Then leave me to my enemied dreams
And be quiet as you are leaving, Miss
Green eyes...
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
Get down, get down, little Henry Lee
And stay all night with me
You won't find a girl in this damn world
That will compare with me
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
I can't get down and I won't get down
And stay all night with thee
For the girl I have in that merry green land
I love far better than thee
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
She leaned herself against a fence
Just for a kiss or two
And with a little pen-knife held in her hand
She plugged him through and through
And the wind did roar and the wind did moan
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
Come take him by his lilly-white hands
Come take him by his feet
And throw him in this deep, deep well
That's more than one hundred feet
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
Lie there, lie there, little Henry Lee
Till the flesh drops from your bones
For the girl you have in that merry green land
Can wait forever for you to come home
And the wind did howl and the wind did moan
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
With a crooked smile and a heart-shaped face
Comes from the West country where the birds sing bass
She's got a house-big heart where we all live
And plead and council and forgive
Her widow's peak, her lips I've kissed
Her glove of bones at her wrist
That I have held in my hand
Her Spanish fly and her monkey gland
Her Godly body and its fourteen stations
That I have embraced, her palpitations
Her unborn baby crying, 'Mummy'
Amongst the rubble of her body
Her lovely lidded eyes I've sipped
Her fingernails, all pink and chipped
Her accent which I'm told is 'broad'
That I have heard and has been poured
Into my human heart and filled me
With love, up to the brim, and killed me
And rebuilt me back anew
With something to look forward to
Well, who could ask much more than that
A West country girl with a big fat cat
That looks into her eyes of green
And meows, 'He loves you', then meows again
I remember a girl so very well,
The carnival drums all mad in the air
Grim reapers and skeletons and a missionary bell,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
In a colonial hotel we fucked up the sun,
And then we fucked it down again
Well the sun comes up and the sun goes down,
Going 'round and around to nowhere
The kitten that padded and purred on my lap,
Now swipes at my face with the paw of a bear
I turn the other cheek and you lay into that,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up,
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up
Across clinical benches with nothing to talk,
Breathing tea and biscuits and the Serenity Prayer
While the bones of our child crumble like chalk,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
I remember a girl so bold and so bright,
Loose-limbed an laughing and brazen and dare
Sits gnawing her knuckles in the chemical light,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
You come for me now with a cake that you've made,
Ravaged avenger with a clip in your hair
Full of glass and bleach an my old razor blades,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up,
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up
If they'd give me my clothes back then I could go home,
From this fresh, this clean, antiseptic air
Behind the locked gates and old donkey moans,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
Around the duck pond we grimly mope,
Gloomily and mournfully we go round again
And one more doomed time and without much hope,
Going 'round and around to nowhere
From the balcony we watched the carnival band,
The crack of the drum a little child did scare
I can still feel his tiny fingers pressed in may hand,
O where do we go now but nowhere ?
If I could relive one day of my life,
If I could relive just a single one
You on the balcony, my future wife,
O who could have known, but no one ?
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up,
O wake up, my love, my lover, wake up
For you dear, I was born
For you I was raised up
For you I've lived and for you I will die
For you I am dying now
You were my mad little lover
In a world where everybody fucks everybody else over
You who are so far from me
Far from me
So far from me
Way across some cold neurotic sea
Far from me
I would talk to you of all matter of things
With a smile you would reply
Then the sun would leave your pretty face
And you'd retreat from the front of your eyes
I keep hearing that you're doing best
I hope your heart beats happy in your infant breast
You are so far from me
Far from me
Far from me
There is no knowledge but i know it
There's nothing to learn from that vacant voice
That sails to me across the line
From the ridiculous to the sublime
It's good to hear you're doing so well
But really can't you find somebody else that you can ring and tell
Did you ever
Care for me
Were you ever
There for me
So far from me
You told me you'd stick by me
Through the thick and through the thin
Those were your very words
My fair-weather friend
You were my brave-hearted lover
At the first taste of trouble went running back to mother
So far from me
Far from me
Suspended in your bleak and fishless sea
Far from me
Far from me
Kiss me again, rekiss me and kiss me
Slip your frigid hands beneath my shirt
This useless old fucker with his twinkling cunt
Doesn't care if he gets hurt
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
If it were but a matter of faith
If it were measured in petitions and prayer
She would materialise, all fleshed out
But it is not, nor do I care
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
So hold me and hold me, don't tell me your name
This morning will be wiser than this evening is
Then leave me to my enemied dreams
And be quiet as you are leaving, Miss
Green eyes...
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
Green eyes, Green eyes
For you, dear, I was born
For you, I was raised up
For you I've lived and for you I will die
For you I am dying now
You were my mad little lover
In a world where everybody fucks everybody else over
You who are so far from me,
so far from me
Way across some cold neurotic sea
Far from me
I would talk to you of all manner of things
With a smile you would reply
Then the sun would leave your pretty face
And you'd retreat from the front of your eyes
I keep hearing that you're doing your best
I hope your heart beats happy,
In your infant breast
You are so far from me,
far from me , far from me
There is no knowledge but I know it
There's nothing to learn from that vacant voice
That sails to me across the line
From ridiculous to sublime
It's good to hear you're doing so well dear
But really can't you find somebody else that you can ring and tell
Did you ever care for me ?
Were you ever there for me ?
So far from me
You told me you'd stick by me
Through the thick and through the thin
Those were your very words
My fair-weather friend
You were my brave-hearted lover
At the first taste of trouble went running back to mother
So far from me, far from me
Suspended in your bleak and fishless sea
Far from me, far from me
Now that mountains of meaningless words
and oceans divide us
And we each have our own set of stars
to comfort and guide us
Come into my sleep
Come into my sleep, oh yeah
Dry your eyes and do not weep
Come into my sleep
Swim to me through the deep blue sea
upon the scattered stars set sail
Fly to me through this love-lit night
from one thousand miles away
And come into my sleep
Come into my sleep oh yeah
As midnight nears and shadows creep
Come into my sleep
Bind my dreams up in your tangled hair
For I am sick at heart, my dear
Bind my dreams up in your tangled hair
For all the sorrow it will pass, my dear
Take your accusation, your recriminations
and toss them into the ocean blue
Leave your regrets and impossible longings
and scatter them across the sky behind you
And come into my sleep
Come into my sleep
For my soul to comfort and keep
Come into my sleep
For my soul to comfort and keep - my sleep
Come on,
Come on,
Come on,
[repeat and fade]
Babe I got you bad
Dreaming blood-wet dreams
only madmen have
Baby I got you bad
I wish to God I never had
And it makes me feel so sad,
O, Baby I got you bad
Yeah, Babe I got you bad
I long for your kiss,
for the turn of your mouth
Your body is a long thing
Heading South
And I don't know what I'm talking about
All of my words have gone mad
Ah, baby I got you bad
Seasons have gone wrong
And I lay me down in a bed of snow
Darling, since you've been gone
well my hands, they don't know where to go
And all of my teeth are bared,
I got you so much I'm scared
Ah, baby I got you bad
With the sweep of my hand
I undid all the plans
that explode at the moment I kissed you
on your small hot mouth
and your caramel limbs
that are hymns to the glory that is you.
Look at me darlin' it's sad sad sad
Look at me darlin' it's sad sad sad
Baby I got you bad
Smoke bilowing from the bridges
and the rivers we swim in are boiling
My hands are reaching for you everywhere
but you're not there, or you're recoiling
and a weary moon dangles from a cloud
Oh honey, I know it's not allowed
To say I got you bad.
I got you bad...
I got you bad...
I got you bad...
[Repeat and fade]
Up those stone steps I climb
Hail this joyful day's return
Into its great shadowed vault I go
Hail the Pentecostal morn
The reading is from Luke 24
Where Christ returns to his loved ones
I look at the stone apostles
Think that it's alright for some
And I wish that I was made of stone
So that I would not have to see
A beauty impossible to define
A beauty impossible to believe
A beauty impossible to endure
The blood imparted in little sips
The smell of you still on my hands
As I bring the cup up to my lips
No God up in the sky
No devil beneath the sea
Could do the job that you did, baby
Of bringing me to my knees
Outside I sit on the stone steps
With nothing much to do
Forlorn and exhausted, baby
By the absence of you
(feat. Kylie Minogue)
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
That grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped at the tears that ran down my face
[Chorus]
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free'
On the second day he came with a single red rose
Said: 'Will you give me your loss and your sorrow'
I nodded my head, as I lay on the bed
He said, 'If I show you the roses, will you follow'
[Chorus]
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he knelt (stood smiling) above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
[Chorus]
Once there came a storm in the form of a girl
It blew to pieces my snug little world
Sometimes I swear I can still hear her howl
Down through the wreckage and the ruins
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
Now the storm has passed over me
I'm left to drift on a dead calm sea
And watch her forever through the cracks in the beams
Nailed across the doorways of the bedrooms of my dreams
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
Now I got no one to hold
Now I am all alone again
It ain't too hot but it ain't too cold
And there is no sign of rain
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And I'm
Here I'm on my own
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
Say what you will, I don't care
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone, yeah
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby has gone
O say goodbye to the little girl tree.
O you know that I must say goodbye
To the little girl tree.
This wall I built around you
Is made out of stone-lies.
O little girl the truth would be
An axe in thee.
O father look to your daughter
Brick of grief and stricken morter.
With this ring
This silver hoop of wire
I bind your maiden mainstream
Just to keep you as a child.
O say goodbye to the little girl tree.
O you know that I must say goodbye
To my little girl tree.
How fast your candy bones
Reached out for me.
I must say goodbye to your brittle bones
Crying out for me.
O you know that I must say goodbye.
O goodbye.
Even though you will betray me
The very minute that I leave.
O say goodbye to the little girl tree.
O Lord you know that I must say goodbye
To that little girl tree.
I rise up her girl-child lumps and slipping knots
Into her laden boughs
And amongst her roping limbs
Like a swollen neck vein branching
Into smaller lesser veins
That must all just sing and say goodbye
And let her blossom veils fly.
Her velvet gown.
Down down down.
Down down down.
Down down down and goodbye.
For you know that I must say goodbye.
To a rhythm softly tortured
Of a motion back and forth.
Thats a rhythm sweetly tortured
O thats the rhythm of the orchard.
And you know that I must say goodbye
To that little girl tree.
O goodbye.
Yes goodbye.
For you know that I must die.
Down down down.
Down down down.
Down down down and goodbye.
For you know that I must die.
Yes you know that I must die.
O-o you know that I must die.
Once she lay open like a road
Carbed apart the madness that I stumbled from
But she fell away
She fell away
Shed me like a skin
She fell away
Left me holding everything
Once the road lay open like a girl
And we drank and laughed and threw the bottle over
But she fell away
She fell away
I did not see the cracks form
As I knelt to pray
I did not see the crevice yawn, no
Sometimes
At night I feel the end it is at hand
My pistol going crazy in my hand
For she fell away
O she fell away
Walked me th the brink
The fell away
I did not see her fall
To better days
Sometimes I wonder was she ever there at all
She fell away
She fell away
She fell away
Last night my kisses
Were banked in black hair
And in my bed, my lover,
Her hair was midnight black
And all her mystery dwelled
Within her black hair
And her black hair framed
A happy heart-shaded face
And heavy-hooded eyes
Inside her black hair
Shined at me from the depths
Of her hair deepest black
While my fingers pushed into
Her straight black hair
Pulling her black hair back
From her happy heart-shaped face
To kiss her milk-white throat,
A dark curtain of black hair
Smothered me, my lover
With her beautiful black hair
The smell of it is heavy
It is charged with life
On my fingers lingers the smell
Of her deep black hair
Full of all my whispered words
Her black hair
And wet with tears and good-byes,
Her hair of deepest black
All my tears cried against
Her milk-white throat
Hidden behind the curtain
Of her beautiful black hair
As deep as ink and black, Black as the deepest sea
The smell of her black hair
Upon my pillow, Where her head and all its
Black hair did rest
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
As she stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
They grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped the tears that ran down my face
CHORUS
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?'
On the second day he came with a single rose
Said: 'Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?'
I nodded my head, as I lied on the bed
He said, 'If I show you the roses will you follow?'
CHORUS
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
CHORUS
She loves me, she loves me not
She loves me, she loves me not
We-e-ll, ah've spent seven days and seven nights
tryin to get sunk in this brine
Don't turn on ya water-works
'cause ah got me a pair of water-wings, right?!
Insects suicide against the window,
and my heart goes out to those lil flies
There's a buggin in my ear
but it's more of her black-mail, ham shakespeare + her
Wings off Flies, She loves me, she loves me not.
O o o o oh she loves me not!!
Lord, Ah've discovered the recipe of Heaven
ya git solitude and mix with sanctuary and silence,
then bake it!
Listen, I plead guilty to misanthropy
so hang me! Ah'd appreciate it!!
Witness her gate-crash my tiny hell
with some obscene tete-a-lete,
If ya wanna talk to me about Love'n'Pain
consult my ulcer, A'd be happy to co-operate
Wings off Flies, she loves me, loves me not
Ey, Joe! another outa do the job.
Time to drown our lil fire, ya can keep the ashes,
Now bye bye, bye, bye, see ya in a pigs eye!
Ah will be one, in need of no-one
In this, my deepest dive...
Filler up, Joe...
Hey! Ah am obliged! Ah am olbiged!
Wings off Flies, She loves me, she loves me not
Wings off Flies etc... ad infinitum
It was the dirty end of winter
Along the loom of the land
When I walked with sweet Henry
Hand upon hand
And the wind it bit bitter
For a girl of no means
With no shoes on her feet
And a knife in her jeans
Along the loom of the land
The mission bells peeled
From the tower at Saint Mary's
Down to Reprobate Fields
And I saw (that) the world
(Was) all blessed and bright
And Henry breathed softly
In the majestic night
O baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now we'll go to sleep
The elms and the poplars
Were turning their backs
Past the rumbling station
We followed their tracks
My hands they burned
In the folds of his coat
Breathing milky white air
From deep in his throat
O baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now we'll go to sleep
I told him the moon
Was a magical thing
That it shone gold in winter
And silver in spring
And we walked and we walked
Across the endless sands
Just me and my Henry
Along the loom of the land
O baby please don't cry
And try to keep
O baby please don't cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now we'll go to sleep
On those sentimental nights
you hold me in your sights
shoot me down
Though there ain't no enemy here
you keep me very near and shoot me down
shoot me down
your hands they flutter up
Armed and dangerous my buttercup
and shoot me down... in flames
Stand back baby, stand back and let me breathe
I think I fallin' outta' here
I can hear the grass grow
I can hear the melting snow
I can feel your breath against my hair
I might just disappear
Yeah, wouldn't that be nice?
Yeah, wouldn't that be nice?
Well, wouldn't that be nice?
I look into your eyes
it comes as no great surprise
you're gonna shoot me down
shoot me down
I know that when you smile
it'll only be a short little while
Shoot me down... in flames
Shoot me down
in flames
Shoot me down
in flames
you're gonna shoot me down
oh, in flames
shoot me down, shoot me down
in flames
shoot me down in flames
shoot me down in flames
shoot me down in flames
Sugar Sugar Sugar
That man is bad
The road he drives you down
O sugar its a drag
That road it twists
That road is crossed
Its down that road
A lot of little girls go lost
Sugar Sugar Sugar
Keep on driving on
Until the City of right
Becomes the City of wrong
That stretch is long
You'll sleep and slide
That stretch will find you
Gagged and tied
The hunter lies
In a lowly ditch
His eyes they sting
And his fingers twitch
You'll be his queen for the night
But the morning you'll wake
With the Lords and high ladies
Of the bottom of the lake
Sugar sugar sugar
That man is wild
And sugar, you know
That you're merely a child
He will laugh
And hang your sheets to see
The tokens of your virginity
Sugar sugar sugar
Honey you're so sweet
And beside you baby
Nothing can complete
Sugar sugar sugar
Honey your so sweet
But beside you baby
A bad man sleeps
You better pray baby
Pray baby, pray baby
You better pray
You better pray, baby
Pray, baby, pray baby
You better pray baby
Sugar sugar sugar
That man is bad
And that's the bottom baby
Coming right up ahead
You can smell his fear
You can smell his love
As he wipes his mouth
On your altar cloth
Sugar sugar sugar
Try to understand
I'm an angel of God
I'm your guardian
He smells you innocence
And like a dog he comes
And like all the dogs he is
I shut him down
Sugar sugar sugar
I can't explain
Must I kill that cocksucker
Everyday
You better pray baby, pray baby, pray baby
You better pray your daddy he ain't far away
You better pray baby pray baby pray baby
You better pray your daddy's come to take you away
You better pray baby, pray baby, pray baby
You better pray o tender prey baby tender prey
You better pray tender pray baby tender prey
And no-one saw the carny go
And the weeks flew by
Until they moved on the show
Leaving his caravan behind
It was parked out on the south east ridge
And as the company crossed the bridge
With the first rain filling the bone-dry river bed
It shone, just so, upon the edge
Dog-boy, atlas, half-man, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cas an eye behind
In the hope that the carny would return to his own kind
And the carny had a horse, all skin and bone
A bow-backed nag, that he named sorrow
How it is buried in a shallow grave
In the then parched meadow
And the dwarves were given the task of digging the ditch
And laying the nag's carcass in the ground
And boss Bellini, waving his smoking pistol around
saying The nag is dead Meat
We caint afford to carry dead weight
The whole company standing about
Not making a sound
And turning to dwarves perched on the enclosure gate
The boss says Bury this lump of crow bait
And thean the rain came
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats crowling in ther cages
The bird-girl flapping and squawking around
The whole valley reeking of wet beast
Wet beast and rotten hay
Freak and brute creation
Packed up and on their way
The three dwarves peering from their wagon's hind
Moses says to Noah We shoulda dugga deepa one
Their grizzled faces like dying moons
Still dirty from the digging done
And as the company passed from the valley
Into a higher ground
The rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow
And on the mound
Until nothing was left, nothing at all
Except the body of sorrow
That rose in time
To float upon the surface of the eaten soil
And a murder of crows did circle round
First one, then the others flapping blackly down
And the carny's van still sat upon the edge
Tilting slowly as the firm ground turned to sludge
And the rain it hammered down
And no-one saw the carny go
I say it's funny how things go
All the towers of ivory are crumbling
And the swallows have sharpened their beaks
This is the time of our great undoing
This is the time that I'll come running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
One more time
The light in our window is fading
The candle gutters on the ledge
Well now sorrow, it comes a-stealing
And I'll cry, girl, but I'll come a-running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
Once again
Gone are the days of rainbows
Gone are the nights of swinging from the stars
For the sea will swallow up the mountains
And the sky will throw thunder-bolts and sparks
Straight at you
But I'll come a-running
Straight to you
But I'll come a-running
One more time
Heaven has denied us its kingdom
The saints are drunk howling at the moon
The chariots of angels are colliding
Well, I'll run, babe, but I'll come running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
One more time
Stranger than kindness
Bottled light from hotels
Spilling everything
Wet hand from the volcano
Sobers your skin
Stranger than Kindness
You caress yourself
And grind my soft cold bones below
Your map of desire
Burned in your flesh
Even a fool can come
A strange lit stair
And find a rope hanging there
Stranger than kindness
Keys rain like heaven's hair
There is no home there is no bread
We sit at the gate and scratch
The gaunt fruit of passion
Dies in the light
Stranger than kindness
Your sleeping hands journey
The loiter
Stranger than kindness
You hold me so carelessy close
Tell me I'm dirty
Stranger than kindness
I look at, I look at you,
And you look at me too
And deep in our hearts we know it
I heard it on the news
You weren't much of a muse
But then I weren't much of a poet
I look at you,
you look at me too
And deep in our hearts we know it
I heard it on the news
You weren't much of a muse
But I wasn't much of a poet
Remember when I kissed your lips when sleep was upon you
your lips responded deep and divine
I kissed your lips when sleep was upon you
Then I awoke to the wreck of our age
But still your face comes shining through
i had a siggarette and i try to forget,
but through my window a melody sing
lone violin plan some fucking thing
from Ireland, and Scotland or Wales
still your face comes shining through
still your face comes shining through
it's a language of love that rises above
all knowledge and science and arts
it doesn't take much just to whisper and a touch
to thurety demolish my heart
still your face comes shining through
still your face comes shining through
Last night my kisses were banked in black hair
And in my bed, my lover, her hair was midnight black
And all her mystery dwelled within her black hair
And her black hair framed a happy heart-shaped face
And heavy-hooded eyes inside her black hair
Shined at me frome the depths of her hair of deepest black
While my fingers pushed into her straight black hair
Pulling her black hair back from her happy heart-shaped face
To kiss her milk-white throat, a dark curtain of black hair
Smothered me, my lover with her beautiful black hair
The smell of it is heavy. It is charged with life
On my fingers the smell of her deep black hair
Full of all my whispered words, her black hair
And wet with tears and good-byes, her hair of deepest black
All my tears cried against her milk-white throat
Hidden behind the curtain of her beautiful black hair
As deep as ink and black, black as the deepest sea
The smell of her black hair upon my pillow
Where her head and all its black hair did rest
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
(Can you turn me up a bit)
King kong kitchee kitchee ki-mi-o [4 times and throughout song]
Well frog went a-courtin' and he did ride
With a sword and a pistol by his side And he rode 'til he came to Miss Mouse's door
And then he knelt right down upon the floor
He said, 'Little Miss Mouse, will you marry me
Way down yonder in the hollow tree
With an owl and a bat and a bumblebee'
(Shoop shoop, shoop shoop)
Miss Mouse had suitors, three or four
And they came rushing through the door
Well they grabbed Miss Mouse and began to fight
In the hollow tree; it was a terrible night
Yeah, 'Little Miss Mouse, will you marry me
Way down yonder in the hollow tree
With an owl and a bat and a bumblebee'
Yeah! Yeah!
Mr Frog threw her suitors to the floor
And with his sword and his pistol he killed them all
And they went to the vicar the very next day
And they left on their honeymoon right away
Oh glory, glory, glory be
Way down yonder in the hollow tree
With an owl and a bat and a bumblebee
(feat. PJ Harvey)
Get down, get down, little Henry Lee
And stay all night with me
You won't find a girl in this damn world
That will compare with me
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
I can't get down and I won't get down
And stay all night with thee
For the girl I have in that merry green land
I love far better than thee
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
She leaned herself against a fence
Just for a kiss or two
And with a little pen-knife held in her hand
She plugged him through and through
And the wind did roar and the wind did moan
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
Come take him by his lilly-white hands
Come take him by his feet
And throw him in this deep deep well
Which is more than one hundred feet
And the wind did howl and the wind did blow
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
Lie there, lie there, little Henry Lee
Till the flesh drops from your bones
For the girl you have in that merry green land
Can wait forever for you to come home
And the wind did howl and the wind did moan
La la la la la
La la la la lee
A little bird lit down on Henry Lee
It was back in '32 when times were hard
He had a Colt .45 and a deck of cards
Stagger Lee
He wore rat-drawn shoes and an old stetson hat
Had a '28 Ford, had payments on that
Stagger Lee
His woman threw him out in the ice and snow
And told him, 'Never ever come back no more'
Stagger Lee
So he walked through the rain and he walked through the mud
Till he came to a place called The Bucket Of Blood
Stagger Lee
He said 'Mr Motherfucker, you know who I am'
The barkeeper said, 'No, and I don't give a good goddamn'
To Stagger Lee
He said, 'Well bartender, it's plain to see
I'm that bad motherfucker called Stagger Lee'
Mr. Stagger Lee
Barkeep said, 'Yeah, I've heard your name down the way
And I kick motherfucking asses like you every day'
Mr Stagger Lee
Well those were the last words that the barkeep said
'Cause Stag put four holes in his motherfucking head
Just then in came a broad called Nellie Brown
Was known to make more money than any bitch in town
She struts across the bar, hitching up her skirt
Over to Stagger Lee, she starts to flirt
With Stagger Lee
She saw the barkeep, said, 'O God, he can't be dead!'
Stag said, 'Well, just count the holes in the motherfucker's head'
She said, 'You ain't look like you scored in quite a time.
Why not come to my pad It won't cost you a dime'
Mr. Stagger Lee
'But there's something I have to say before you begin
You'll have to be gone before my man Billy Dilly comes in,
Mr. Stagger Lee'
'I'll stay here till Billy comes in, till time comes to pass
And furthermore I'll fuck Billy in his motherfucking ass'
Said Stagger Lee
'I'm a bad motherfucker, don't you know
And I'll crawl over fifty good pussies just to get one fat boy's asshole'
Said Stagger Lee
Just then Billy Dilly rolls in and he says, 'You must be
That bad motherfucker called Stagger Lee'
Stagger Lee
'Yeah, I'm Stagger Lee and you better get down on your knees
And suck my dick, because If you don't you're gonna be dead'
Said Stagger Lee
Billy dropped down and slobbered on his head
And Stag filled him full of lead
Oh yeah.
I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
And I don't believe in the existence of angels
But looking at you I wonder if that's true
But if I did I would summon them together
And ask them to watch over you
To each burn a candle for you
To make bright and clear your path
And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love
And guide you into my arms
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you
So keep your candlew burning
And make her journey bright and pure
That she will keep returning
Always and evermore
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
Onward! And Onward! And Onward I go
Where no man before could be bothered to go
Till the soles of my shoes are shot full of holes
And it's all downhill with a bullet
This ramblin' and rovin' has taken it's course
I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses
And the city streets crack and a great hole forces
Me down with my soapbox, my pulpit
The theatre ceiling is silver star spangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
There's a man in the theatre with girlish eyes
Who's holding my childhood to ransom
On the screen there's a death,
there's a rustle of cloth
And a sickly voice calling me handsome
There's a man in the theatre with sly girlish eyes
On the screen there's an ape, a gorilla
There's a groan, there's a cough, there's a rustle of cloth
And a voice that stinks of death and vanilla
This is a secret, mauled and mangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
The walls in the ceiling are painted in blood
The lights go down, the red curtains come apart
The room is full of smoke and dialogue I know by heart
And the coins in my pocket jingle-jangle
As the great screen crackled and popped
And the clock of my boyhood was wound down and stopped
And my handsome little body oddly propped
And my trousers right down to my ankles
Yes, onward! And upward!
And I'm off to find love
Do you love me? If you do, I'm thankful
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
This city is an ogre squatting by the river
It gives life but it takes it away, my youth
There comes a time when you just cannot deliver
This is a fact. This is a stone cold truth.
Do you love me? I love you, handsome.
But do you love me? Yes, I love you, you are handsome
Amongst the cogs and the wires, my youth
Vanilla breath and handsome apes with girlish eyes
Dreams that roam between truth and untruth
Memories that become monstrous lies
So onward! And Onward! And Onward I go!
Onward! And Upward! And I'm off to find love
With blue-black bracelets on my wrists and my ankles
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Take a litle walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms,
like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires,
in the humming wires
Hey man, you know
you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge,
past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes
a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with
a red right hand
He'll wrap you in his arms,
tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams
it took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole,
heal your shrinking soul
Hey buddy, you know you're
never ever coming back
He's a god, he's a man,
he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name
through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat
is a red right hand
You ain't got no money?
He'll get you some
You ain't got no car? He'll get you one
You ain't got no self-respect,
you feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy,
cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio
and the bowery and the slum
A shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his
red right hand
(Organ solo)
You'll see him in your nightmares,
you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head,
on the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning
you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god,
he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
his red right hand
(Organ solo)
I am tall and I am thin
Of an enviable height
And I've been known to be quite handsome
From a certain angle and a certain light
Well I entered into O'Malley's
Said, "O'Malley I have a thirst"
O'Malley merely smiled at me
said "You wouldn't be the first"
I knocked on the bar and pointed
To a bottle on the shelf
And as O'Malley poured me out a drink
I sniffed and crossed myself
My hand decided that the time was nigh
And for a moment it slipped from view
And when it returned, it fairly burned
With confidence anew
Well the thunder from my steely fist
Made all the glasses jangle
When I shot him, I was so handsome
It was the light, it was the angle
Huh! Hmmmmm
"Neighbours!" I cried, "Friends!" I screamed
I banged my fist upon the bar
"I bear no grudge against you!"
And my dick felt long and hard
"I am the man for which no God waits
And for which the whole world yearns
I'm marked by darkness and by blood
And one thousand powder-burns"
Well, you know those fish with swollen lips
That clean the ocean floor?
When I looked at poor O'Malley's wife
That is exactly what I saw
I jammed the barrel under her chin
And her face looked raw and vicious
Her head it landed in the sink
With all the dirty dishes
Her little daughter Siobhan
Pulled beers from dusk till dawn
And amongst the townfolk, she was a bit of a joke
But she pulled the best beers in town
I swooped magnificent upon her
As she sat shivering in her grief
Like the Madonna painted on the church-house wall
In whale's blood and banana leaf
Her throat it crumbled in my fist
And I spun heroically around
To see Caffrey rising from his seat
I shot that motherfucker down
Mmmmmmmmm Yeah Yeah Yeah
"I have no free will," I sang
As I flew about the murder
Mrs. Richard Holmes, she screamed
You really should have heard her
I sang and I laughed, I howled and I wept
I panted like a pup
I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes
And her husband he stood up
And he screamed, "You are an evil man"
And I paused a while to wonder
"If I have no free will then how could I
Be morally culpable, I wonder"
I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach
And gingerly he sat down
And he whispered weirdly, "No offense"
And lay upon the ground
"None taken," I replied to him
With which he gave a little cough
With blazing wings I neatly aimed
And blew his head completely off
I've lived in this town for thirty years
And to no-one I am a stranger
And I put new bullets in my gun
Chamber upon chamber
And when I turned my gun on the bird-like Mr. Brookes
I thought of Saint Francis and his sparrows
And as I shot down the youthful Richardson
It was Sebastian I thought of, and his arrows
Hhhhhhhhhhhh Mmmmmmmmm
I said, "I want to introduce myself
And I'm glad that you all came"
And I leapt upon the bar
And shouted out my name
Well Jerry Bellows, he hugged his stool
Closed his eyes and shrugged and laughed
And with an ashtray as big as a fucking big brick
I split his head in half
His blood spilled across the bar
Like a streaming scarlet brook
And I knelt at it's edge on the counter
Wiped the tears away and looked
Well, the light in there was blinding
Full of God and ghosts and truth
I smiled at Henry Davenport
Who made an attempt to move
Well, from the position I was standing
The strangest thing I ever saw
The bullet entered through the top of his chest
And blew his bowels out on the floor
Well I floated down the counter
Showing no remorse
I shot a hole in Kathleen Carpenter
Recently divorced
But remorse I felt and remorse I had
It clung to everything
From the raven hair upon my head
To the feathers on my wings
Then I squeezed my hand in it's fraudulent claw
With it's golden hairless chest
And I glided through the bodies
And killed the fat man Vincent West
Who sat quietly in his chair
A man become a child
And I raised the gun up to his head
Executioner-style
He made no attempt to resist
So fat and dull and lazy
"Do you know I lived in your street?" I cried
And he looked at me as though I was crazy
"O", he said, "I had no idea"
And he grew as quiet as a mouse
And the roar of the pistol when it went off
Near blew the hat right off the house
Well, I caught my eye in the mirror
And gave it a long and loving inspection
"There stands some kind of man", I roared
And there did, in the reflection
My hair combed back like a raven's wing
My muscles hard and tight
And curling from he business end of my gun
Was a query-mark of cordite
Well I spun to the left, I spun to the right
And I spun to the left again
"Fear me! Fear me!"
But no one did cause they were all dead
Huh! Hmmmmmmmm
And then there were the police sirens wailing
And a bull-horn squelched and blared
"Drop your weapons and come out
With your hands held in the air"
Well, I checked the chambers of my gun
Saw I had one final bullet left
My hand, it looked almost human
As I help it to my head
"Drop your weapon and come out!
Keep you hands above your head!"
Well, I had one long hard think about dying
And did exactly what they said
There must have been fifty cops out there
In a circle around O'Malley's bar
"Don't shoot", I cried "I'm a man unarmed!"
So they put me in their car
And they sped me away from that terrible scene
And I glanced out of the window
Saw O'Malley's bar, saw the cops and the cars
And started counting on my fingers
Aaaaaaaaah One Aaaaaaaah Two Aaaaaah Three Aaaah Four
O'Malley's bar O'Malley's bar
You are my new god
On a day of spiritual silence
This world won't seem so odd
When we form a new alliance
To take us far above the norm
To take us to a world reborn
To take us to the plane of which we seek
You turn my water into wine
Send a shiver down my spine
I'll follow you because you are the one
The one that gives me energy
Let's me touch the things I see
I'll follow you because you are the one
In the orange sky
We can see our new commitments
At night we search for high
As the lows become a hindrance
To keep us from the higher ground
Where gold and silver can be found
To keep us from the storm we wish to ride
Ah wanna tell ya 'bout a girl
You kno, she lives in Apt. 29
Why... that's the one right up top a mine
Ah start to cry, Ah start to cry
O ah hear her walkin
Walkin barefoot cross the floor-boards
All thru this lonesome night
And ah hear her crying too.
Hot-tears come splashin on down
Leaking thru the cracks,
Down upon my face, ah catch'em in my mouth!
Walk'n'cry Walk'n'cry-y!!!
From her to eternity!
From her to eternity!
From her to eternity!
Ah read her diary on her sheets
Scrutinizin every lil piece of dirt
Tore out a page'n'stufft it inside my shirt
Fled outa the window,
And shinning it down the vine
Outa her night-mare, and back into mine
Mine! O Mine!
From her to eternity!
From her to eternity!
From her to eternity!
Cry! Cry! CRY!
She's wearing them bloo-stockens, ah bet!
and standin like this with my ear to the ceiling
Listen ah kno it must sound absurd
but ah can hear the most melancholy sound
ah ever heard!
Walk'n'cry! Kneel'n'cry-y!
From her to eternity!
From her to eternity!
O tell me why? Why? Why?
Why the ceiling still shakes?
Why the fixtures turn to serpants snakes?
This desire to possess her is a wound
and its naggin at me like a shrew
but, ah kno, that to possess her
Is, therefore, not to desire her.
O o o then ya kno, that lil girl would just have to go!
Go! Go-o-o! From her to eternity!
When you're sad and when you're lonely
And you haven't got a friend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and does not mend
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
When you're standing on the crossroads
That you cannot comprehend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all your dreams have vanished
And you don't know what's up the bend
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
When the storm clouds gather round you
And heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end
And there's no-one there to comfort you
With a helping hand to lend
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
For the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation
Up in dark and empty skies
When the cities are on fire
With the burning flesh of men
Just remember that death is not the end
When you search in vain to find
Some law-abiding citizen
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end
Just like a bird that sings up the sun
In a dawn so very dark
Such is my faith for you
Such is my faith
And all the world's darkness can't swallow up
A single spark
Such is my love for you
Such is my love
There is a kingdom
There is a king
And he lives without
And he lives within
The starry heavens above me
The moral law within
So the world appears
So the world appears
This day so sweet
It will never come again
So the world appears
Through this mist of tears
There is a kingdom
There is a king
And he lives without
And he lives within
Down in the willow garden, me and my love did meet
And as we sat a-courting, my love fell off to sleep
I had a bottle of burgundy wine; my love, she did not know
And so I poisoned that dear little girl along the banks below
Along the banks below
I drew my saber through her; it was a bloody night
I threw her in the river, which was a dreadful sight
My father often told me that money would set me free
And so I murdered that dear little girl whose name was Rose Connelly
Whose name was Rose Connelly
My father sits at his cabin door wiping his tear-dimmed eyes
His only son soon should walk to yonder scaffold high
My race is run beneath the sun; the scaffold now waits for me
For I did murder that dear little girl whose name was Rose Connelly
Whose name was Rose Connelly
Whose name was Rose Connelly
When I get home, I'm gunna clean up my house
When I get home, I'm gunna kick out that mouse
When I get home, I'm gunna put things in order
but right now, right right now, right now I'm a-roaming
When I get home, I'm gunna make that call
When I get home, I'm gunna talk it through
When I get home, I'm gunna straighten it out
but right now, right now, right now I'm a-roaming
When I get home, I'm gunna give up the booze
When I get home, I'm gunna get me some food
When I get home, I'm gunna quit them drugs
but right now, right now, right now I'm a-roaming
When I get home, I'm gunna call my mother
When I get home, I'm gunna cook her some dinner
When I get home, I'm gunna invite my brothers
but right now, right right now, right now I'm a-roaming
When I get home, I'm gunna see my little boy
When I get home, I'm buy him a little toy
When I get home, he's gunna jump for joy
but right now, right right now, right now I'm a-roaming
When I get home, I'm gunna unpack my bags
When I get home, I'm gunna waash these dirty rags
When I get home, I'm gunna pack 'em up again
but I'm gunna go, I'm gunna go, I'm gunna go right back roaming.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I went out walking the other day
The wind hung wet around my neck
My head it rung with screams and groans
From the night I spent amongst her bones
I past beside the mission house
Where that mad old buzzard, the reverend,
Shrieked and flapped about life after your dead
Well, I thought about my friend, Michel
How they rolled him in linoleum
And shot him in the neck
A bloody halo, like a think-bubble
Circling his head
And I bellowed at the firmament
Looks like the rains are hear to stay
And the rain pissed down upon me
And washed me all away
Saying
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Well, the road is long
And the road is hard
And many fall by the side
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
Well, the moon it looked exhausted
Like something you should pity
Spent an age-spotted
Above the sizzling wires of the city
Well, it reminded me of her face
Her bleached and hungry eyes
Her hair was like a curtain
Falling open with the laughter
And closing with the lies
But the ghost of her still lingers on
Though she's passed through me
And is gone
The slum dogs, they are barking
And the rain children on the streets
And the tears that we will weep today
Will all be washed away
By the tears that we will weep again tomorrow
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
For the road is long
And the road is hard
And many fall by the side
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
And I came upon a little house
A little house upon a hill
And I entered through, the curtain hissed
Into the house with its blood-red bowels
Where wet-lipped women with greasy fists
Crawled the ceilings and the walls
They filled me full of drink
And led me round the rooms
Naked and cold and grinning
Until everything went black
And I came down spinning
I awoke so drunk and full of rage
That I could hardly speak
A fag in a whale-bone corset
Draping his dick across my cheek
And its into the shame
And its into a guilt
And its into the fucking fray
And the walls ran red around me
A warm arterial spray
Saying
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Well, the night is dark
And the night is deep
And its jaws are open wide
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
It's the rainy season where I'm living
Death comes leaping out of every doorway
Wasting you for money, for your clothes
And for your nothing
Entire towns being washed away
Favelas exploding on inflammable spillways
Lynch-mobs, death squads, babies being born without brains
The mad heat and the relentless rains
And if you stick your arm into that hole
It comes out sheared off to the bone
And with her kisses bubbling on my lips
I swiped the rain and nearly missed
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
Singing
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Papa won't leave you, Henry
Papa won't leave you, Boy
Well, the road is long
And the road is hard
And many fall by the side
But Papa won't leave you, Henry
So there ain't no need to cry
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
And I went on down the road
He went on down the road
Bent Beneath my heavy load
Under his heavy load
Yeah, I went on down the road
Yeah, he went on down the road
Woah, woah
Woah, woah
Woah, woah
Woah, woah
And I went on down that road
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You found me at some party
You thought I'd understand
You barreled over to me
With a drink in each hand
I respect your beliefs, girl,
And I consider you a friend,
But I've already been born once,
I don't wanna to be born again.
Your knowledge is impressive
And your argument is good
But I am the resurrection, babe,
And you're standing on my foot!
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
(Row!)
Your tiny little face
Keeps yapping in the gloom
Seven steps behind me
With your dustpan and broom.
I couldn't help but imagine you
All postured and prone
But there's a little guy on my shoulder
Says I should go home alone.
You keep leaning in on me
And you're looking pretty pissed
That grave you've dug between your legs
Is hard to resist.
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
Give to God what belongs to God
And give the rest to me
Tell our gracious host to fuck himself
It's time for us to leave.
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
But my little boat is empty
It don't go
And my oar is broken
It don't row, row, row
Row...row...row...row...
I met a little girl in Knoxville
A town we all know well
And every sunday evening
In her home I'd dwell
We went to take an evening walk
About a mile from town
I picked a stick up off the ground
And I knocked that fair girl down
She fell down on her bended knees
For mercy she did cry
'Oh Willy, dear, don't kill me yet
I'm unprepared to die'
She never spoke another word
I only beat her more
Until the ground around me
With her blood did flow
I took her by her golden curls
And I dragged her 'round and 'round
Throwing her into the river
That flows from Knoxville town
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
With your dark and roving eyes
Go down, go down, you Knoxville girl
You can never be my bride
I started back to Knoxville
Got there about midnight
My mother, she was worried
She woke up in a fright
Saying, 'Dear son, what have you done
To bloody up your clothes'
I told my anxious mother
That I was bleading in my nose
I called for me a candle
And I called for me a bed
And I called for me a handkerchief
To bind my aching head
I rolled and thrashed the whole night through
All horrors I did see
The devil stood at the foot of my bed
Pointing his finger at me
They carried me down to Knoxville
And put me in a cell
My friends all tried to get me out
But none could grow my bail
I'm here to waste my life away
Down in this dirty old jail
Because I murdered that Knoxville girl
The girl I loved so well
I found her on a night of fire and noise
Wild bells rang in a wild sky
I knew from that moment on
I'll love her till the day that I died
And I kissed away a thousand tears
My lady of the Various Sorrows
Some begged, some borowed, some stolen
Some kept safe for tomorrow
On and endless night, silver star spangled
The bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you
She was given to me to put things right
And I stacked all my accomplishments beside her
Still I seemed so obselete and small
I found God and all His devils inside her
In my bed she cast the blizzard out
A mock sun blazed upon her head
So completely filled with light she was
Her shadow fanged and hairy and mad
Our love-lines grew hopelessly tangled
And the bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you
She had a heartful of love and devotion
She had a mindful of tyranny and terror
Well, I try, I do, I really try
But I just err, baby, I do, I error
So come find me, my darling one
I'm down to the grounds, the very dregs
Ah, here she comes, blocking the sun
Blood running down the inside of her legs
The moon in the sky is battered and mangled
bAnd the bells from the chapel go jingle-jangle
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you
All things move toward their end
I knew before I met her that I would lose her
I swear I made every effort to be good to her
I made every effort not to abuse her
Crazy bracelets on her wrists and her ankles
And the bells from the chapel go jingle-jangle
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you
Go son, go down to the water
And see the women weeping there
Then go up into the mountains
The men, they are weeping too
Father, why are all the women weeping?
They are weeping for their men
Then why are all the men there weeping?
They are weeping back at them
This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long
Father, why are all the children weeping?
They are merely crying son
O, are they merely crying, father?
Yes, true weeping is yet to come
This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long
O father tell me, are you weeping?
Your face seems wet to touch
O then I'm so sorry, father
I never thought I hurt you so much
This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While we rock ourselves to sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be weeping long
They're taking me down, my friend
And as they uskher me off to my end
Will I bid you adieu
Or will I be seeing you soon
If what they say around here is true
Then we'll meet again
Me and you
My time is at hand, my dove
They're gunna pass me to that house above
Is Heaven just for victims, dear
Where only those in pain go
Well it takes two to tango
We will meet again, my love
I know
If you're in Heaven then you'll forgive me, dear
Because that's what they do up there
If you're in Hell, then what can I say
You probably deserved in anyway
I guess I'm gunna find out any day
For we'll meet again
And there'll be Hell to pay
Your face comes to me from the depths, dear
Your silent mouth mouths, 'Yes', dear
Dark red and big with blood
They're gunna shut me down, my love
They're gunna launch me into the stars
Well, all things come to pass
Glory hallelujah
This prayer is for you, my love
Sent on the wings of a dove
An idiot prayer of empty words
Love, dear, is strictly for the birds
We each get what we deserve
My little snow white dove
Rest assured
There she stands, this lovely creature
There she stands, there she stands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
So I asked this lovely creature
Yes, I asked. Yes I asked
Would she walk with me a while
Through this night so fast
She took my hand, this lovely creature
'Yes', she said, 'Yes', she said
'Yes, I'll walk with you a while'
It was a joyful man she led
Over hills, this lovely creature
Over mountains, over ranges
By great pyramids and sphinxs
We met drifters and strangers
Oh the sands, my lovely creature
And the mad, moaning winds
At night the deserts writhed
With diabolical things
Through the night, through the night
The wind lashed and it whipped me
When I got home, my lovely creature
She was no longer with me
Somewhere she lies, this lovely creature
Beneath the slow drifting sands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
It's up in the morning and on the downs
Little white clouds like gambolling lambs
And I am breathless over you
And the red-breasted robin beats his wings
His throat it treembles when he sings for he is helpless before you
The happy hooded bluebells bow
And bend their heads all a-down
Heavied by the early morning dew
At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook
The fishes leap up to take a look
For they are breathless over you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your mind
Still your soul
For still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
the wind circles among the trees
And it bangs about the new-made leaves
For it is breathless without you
The fox chases the rabbit round
The rabbit hides beneath the ground
For he is defenceless without you
The sky of daytime dies away
And all the earthly things they stop to play
For we are all breathless without you
I listen to my juddering bones
The blood in my veins and the wind in my lungs
And I am breathless without you
Still your hands
And still your heart
for still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows a-new
Still your soul still soul
Still your mind
Still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
Have mercy on me, sir
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay
And my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story
Of a man and his family
And I swear that it is true
Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright blue jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness and little love could bring
Or what life had in store
But all things move toward their end
All things move toward their their end
On that you can be sure
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
And for many days to follow
She grew so sad and lonely
Became Joy in name only
Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow
And a dark and grim force set sail
Farewell happy fields
Where joy forever dwells
* Hail horrors hail *
Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked night
Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife
Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
Well, could it be
How often I've asked that question
Well, then in quick succession
We had babies, one, two, three
We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
They were their mother's children
Their eyes were bright blue jewels
And they were quiet as a mouse
There was no laughter in the house
No, not from Hilda, Hattie or Holly
'No wonder', people said, 'poor mother Joy's so melancholy'
Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
I was visiting a sick friend
I was a doctor then
Joy and the girls were on their own
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She'd been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag
In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
Method of murder much the same as my wife's
It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone's taken four innocent lives
They never caught the man
He's still on the loose
It seems he has done many many more
Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood
The police are investigating at tremendous cost
In my house he wrote 'his red right hand'
That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost
The wind round here gets wicked cold
But my story is nearly told
I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
And so I've left my home
I drift from land to land
I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favour, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss
Do you reckon me a friend
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon
Do you, sir, have a room
Are you beckoning me in
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
These chains of sorrow, they are heavy, it is true
And these locks cannot be broken,
no, not with one thousand keys
O Jailer, you wear a ball-n-chain you cannot see
You can lay your burden on me
You can lay your burden down on me
You can lay your burden down upon me
But you cannot lay down those memories.
Woooo wooo wooo
Woooo wooo wooo
Here I go!
Knockin on Joe!
This square foot of sky will be mine til I die
Knocking on Joe
Woooo wooo wooo
All down the row.
Knockin on Joe.
O Warden I surrender you
Your fists cain't hurt me anymore
You know, these hands will never wash
These dirty Death Row floors
O Preacher, come closer, you don't scare me anymore
Just tell Nancy not to come here
Just tell her not to come here anymore
Tell Nancy not to come
And let me die in the memory of her arms.
O woo woo woo
Woo woo woo
All down the row.
Knockin on Joe.
O you kings of halls and ends of halls
You will die within these walls
And I'll go, all down the row
Knockin on Joe.
O Nancy's body is a coffin,
she wears my tombstone at her head
O Nancy's body is a coffin,
she wears my tombstone at her head
She wears her body like a coffin
She wears a dress of gold and red
She wears a dress of gold and red
She wears a dress of red and gold
Grave-looters at my coffin
before my bodies even cold.
It's a door for when I go
Knockin on Joe
These hands will never mop
your dirty Death Row floors
No! You can hide! You can run!
O but your trial is yet to come
O you can run! You can hide!
But you have yet to be tried!
You can lay your burden down here
You can lay your burden down here
Knockin on Joe
You can lay your burden upon me
You can lay your burden down upon me
Knockin on Joe
You cain't hurt me anymore
Knockin on Joe.
(ad lib)
Up those stone steps I climb
Hail this joyful day's return
Into its great shadowed vault I go
Hail the Pentecostal morn
The reading is from Luke 24
Where Christ returns to his loved ones
I look at the stone apostles
Think taht it's alright for some
And I wish that I was made of stone
So that I would not have to see
A beauty impossible to define
A beauty impossible to believe
A beauty impossible to endure
The blood imparted in little steps
The smell of you still on my hands
As I bring the cup up to my lips
No God up in the sky
No devil beneath the sea
Could do the job what you did
Of bringing me to my knees
Outside I sit on the stone steps
With nothing much to do
Forlorn and exhausted, baby
By the absence of you
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane
Horrors in her head
That her tongue dare not name
Lived all alone by the river
The rolling rivers of pain
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
There is one shining eye on a hard-hat
Company closed down the mine
Winking on the waters they came
Twenty hard-hats, twenty eyes
In her clapboard shack
Just six foot by five
They killed all her whiskey
Poured their pistols dry
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
Seems you've remembered
How to sleep, how to sleep
The house dogs are in the turnips
And your yard dogs are running all over the streets
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
"O Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson
Why you close up shop so late?"
"Just fitted out a girl who looked like a bird
Measured .32, .44, .38
Asked that girl which road she was taking
Said she was walking the road of hate
But she hopped on a coal-trolley up to New Haven
Population: 48"
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
Your guns are drunk and smoking
They have followed you to the gate
Laughing all the way back from the new town
Population, now, 28
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
You better run You better run and run and run
You better run You better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run You better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You stand before your maker
In a state of shame
Bacause your robes are covered in mud
While your kneel at the feet
Of a woman of the street
The gutters will run with blood
They will run with blood!
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
In the days of madness
My brother, my sister
When you're dragged toward the Hell-mouth
You will beg at the end
But there ain't gonna be one, friend
For the grave will spew you out
It will spew you out!
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You'll be working in the darkness
Against your fellow man
And you'll find you're called to come forth
So you'll scrub and you'll scrub
But the trouble is, bud
The blood it won't wash off
No, it won't come off!
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run and run and run
You better run to the City of Refuge
One morn I awakened
A new sun was shining
The sky was a Kingdom
All covered in blood
The moon and the stars
Where the troops that lay conquered
Like fruit left to wither
Poor spiritual food
And the spears of bright sun
All brave with it conquest
Did hover unearthly
In banners of fire
I kneit in the garden
Awash with the dawning
And a voice came so brightly
I covered my eyes
Thank you for giving
This bright new morning
So steeped seemed the evening
In darkness and blood
There'll be no sadness
There'll be no sorrow
There'll be no road too narrow
There'll be a new day
And it's today
For us
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When i must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
Anyway I'm yearning to be done with all this weighing up of truth An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth And anyway I told the truth And
I'm not afraid to die
In heaven his throne is made of gold
And the Ark of his Testament is stone
A throne from which I'm told all nations do unfold
Down here I'm made of the wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away
There's a devil waiting outside your door
(How much longer)
There's a devil waiting outside your door
It is bucking and braying and pawing at the floor
And he's howling with pain and crawling up the walls
There's a devil waiting outside your door
He's weak with evil and broken by the world
He's shouting your name and he's asking for more
There's a devil waiting outside your door
Loverman! Since the world began
Forever, Amen Till end of time Take off that
dress I'm coming down I'm your loverman
Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
L is for LOVE, baby
O is for ONLY you that I do
V is for loving VIRTUALLY all that you are
E is for loving almost EVERYTHING that you do
R is for RAPE me
M is for MURDER me
A is for ANSWERING all of my prayers
N is for KNOWING your loverman's going to
be the answer to all of yours
Loverman! Till the bitter end
While empires burn down Forever and ever
and ever and ever Amen I'm your loverman
So help me, baby So help me
Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
I'll be your loverman!
There's a devil crawling along your floor
There's a devil crawling along your floor
With a trembling heart, he's coming through your door
With his straining sex in his jumping paw
There's a devil crawling along your floor
And he's old and he's stupid and
he's hungry and he's sore
And he's lame and he'sblind
and he's dirty and he's poor
Give him more
There's a devil crawling along your floor
Loverman! Here I stand Forever, Amen
Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
Forgive me, baby My hands are tied
And I got no choice No, I got no choice at all
I'll say it again
L is for LOVE, baby
O is for O yes I do
V is for VIRTUE, so I ain't gonna hurt you
E is for EVEN if you want me to
R is for RENDER unto me, baby
M is for that which is MINE
A is for ANY old how, darling
N is for ANY old time
I'll be your loverman! I got a masterplan
To take off your dress And be your man
Seize the throne Seize the mantle
Seize the crown Cause I am what I am
What I am what I am I'm your loverman!
There's a devil lying by your side
You might think he's asleep
but look at his eyes
He wants you, baby, to be his bride
There's a devil lying by your side
Loverman! Loverman!
They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed
With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
She'd grown up hungry, she'd grown up poor
She left her home in Arkansas
O poor Mary Bellows
She wanted to see the deep blue sea
She travelled across Tennessee
O poor Mary Bellows
She met a man along the way
He introduced himself as Richard Slade
O poor Mary Bellows
Poor Mary thought that she might die
When she saw the ocean for the first time
O poor Mary Bellows
She checked into a cheap little place
Richard Slade carried in her old suitcase
O poor Mary Bellows
'I'm a good girl, sir', she said to him
I couldn't possibly permit you in
O poor Mary Bellows
Slade tipped his hat and winked his eye
And turned away without goodbye
O poor Mary Bellows
She sat on her bed and thought of home
With the sea breeze whistling all alone
O poor Mary Bellows
In hope and loneliness she crossed the floor
And undid the latch on the front door
O poor Mary Bellows
They found her the next day cuffed to the bed
A rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
So mothers keep your girls at home
Don't let them journey all alone
Tell them this world is full of danger
And to shun the company of strangers
O poor Mary Bellows
O poor Mary Bellows
O My O My
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mother died
I was cut from her belly
With a stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife
Who's that younder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that younder all in flames
Up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim
O poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villians part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the of a dead nun's heart
Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept
O no O no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope
Who's that younder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that younder laughing at me
Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3
Ha-Ha Ha Ha
How lucky we were
We hit the cathouse
And sampled their whares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
One night I spat out
My lucky stars
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said "Here is your man and I got a proof"
O no don't go O no
O slow down Joe
The righteous part
I straight as an arrow
Take a walk
And you'll find it too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me
Who's that hanging from the gallow tree
His eyes are hollow but he looks like me
Who's that swinging from the gallow tree
Up jumped the Devil and took my soul from me
Down we go Down we go Down we go
The Devil and me Down we go down down down
Hell fire and flames Down we go Down we go
To Eternity Down we go We go down down down
Down we go we go down down down
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
We go down down down down down ad inferno
O My O My
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mother died
I was cut from her belly
With a stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife
Who's that younder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that younder all in flames
Up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim
O poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villians part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the of a dead nun's heart
Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept
O no O no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope
Who's that younder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that younder laughing at me
Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3
Ha-Ha Ha Ha
How lucky we were
We hit the cathouse
And sampled their whares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
One night I spat out
My lucky stars
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said Here is your man and I got a proof
O no don't go O no
O slow down Joe
The righteous part
I straight as an arrow
Take a walk
And you'll find it too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me
Who's that hanging from the gallow tree
His eyes are hollow but he looks like me
Who's that swinging from the gallow tree
Up jumped the Devil and took my soul from me
Down we go Down we go Down we go
The Devil and me Down we go down down down
Hell fire and flames Down we go Down we go
To Eternity Down we go We go down down down
Down we go we go down down down
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
We go down down down down down ad inferno
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(l,m) Nick Cave
(Inspired by the traditional song 'Katie Cruel')
(p) Nick Cave The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I first came to town
All the people gathered round
They bought me drinks
Lord, how they quickly changed their tune
When I first came to town
People took me round from end to end
Like someone may take round a friend
O how quickly they changed their tune
Suspicion and dark murmurs surround me
Everywhere I go they confound me
As though the blood on my hands
Is there for every citizen to see
O sweet Jesus
There is no turning back
There is always one more town
A little further down the track
And from my window, across the tracks
I watch the juicers burn their fires
And in that light
Their faces leer at me
How I wish they'd just let me be
When I first came to town
Their favours were for free
Now even the doors of the whores of this town
Are closed to me
I search the mirror
And I try to see
Why the people of this town
Have washed their hands of me
O sweet Jesus
There is no turning back
There is always one more town
A little further down the track
O lord, every god-damn turn I take
I fear the noose, I fear the stake
For there is no bone
They did not break
In all the towns I've been before
Well those that sin against me are snuffed out
I know from every day that I live
God-damn the day that I was born
The night that forced me from the womb
And god-damn this town
For I am leaving now
But one day I will return
And the people of this town will surely see
Just how quickly the tables turn
O sweet Jesus
This really is the end
There is always one more town
A little further round the end
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alice wakes
It is morning
She is yawning
As she walks about the room
Her hair falls down her breast
She is naked and it is June
Standing at the window
I wonder if she knows that I can see
Watching Alice rise year after year
Up in her palace, she's captive there
Alice's body
Is golden brown
Her hair hangs down
As she stoops to conquer me
First she pulls her stocking on
And then the church bell chimes
Alice climbes into her uniform
The zippers on the side
Watching Alice dressing in her room
It's so depressing, it's cruel
Watching Alice dressing in her room
It's so depressing, it's true
Just like a bird
That sings up the sun
In a dawn so very dark
Such is my faith for you
Such is my faith
A single spark
Can't swallow up
Such is my love for you
Such is my love
There is a kingdom
There is a king
And he lives without
And he lives within
The moral law within
This day so sweet
It will never come again
So the world appears
Through this mist of tears
There is a kingdom
There is a king
And he lives without
And he lives within
And he is everything
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When i must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around
Woo-wooooooo Woo!
In the name of pain!
(In the name of pain and suffering)
In the name of pain!
(In the name of pain and suffering)
There comes a train!
(There comes a train)
Yeah!
A long black train
(There comes a train)
Lord, a long black train.
Woo-woo! Woo-woo!
Punched from the tunnel
(The tunnel of love is long and lonely)
Engines steaming like a fist
(A fistful of memories)
Into the jolly jaw of morning
(Yeah! O yeah!)
O baby it gets smashed!
(You know that it gets smashed)
I kick every goddamn splinter
Into all the looking eyes in the world
Into all the laughing eyes
Of all the girls in the world
Oooooo-woooooh
She ain't never comin back.
She ain't never comin back.
She ain't never comin back.
She ain't never comin back.
And the name of the pain is...
And the name of the pain is...
The name of the pain is
A train long-suffering
On rails of pain
(On rails of pain and suffering)
There comes a train
(There comes a train long-suffering)
On rails of pain
(On rails of pain and suffering)
O baby blow its whistle in the rain.
Woo-oo Woo! Woo-oo Woo!
Who's the engine driver?
(The engine drivers over yonder)
His name is Memory
(Memory is his name)
O Memory is his name
(Woooooo-wo!)
Destination: Misery
(Pain and misery)
O pain and misery
(Pain and misery)
O pain and misery
Hey! Hey!
(Pain and misery)
Hey! That's a sad lookin sack!
Oooh that's a sad lookin sack!
And the name of the pain is...
And the name of the pain is...
Ooh the name of the pain is
A train long-suffering
There is a train!
(It's got a name)
Yeah! It's a train long-suffering
O Lord a train!
(A long black train)
Lord! Of pain and suffering
Each night so black
(O yeah! So black)
And in the darkness of my sack
I'm missing you baby
(I'm missing you)
And I just dunno what to do
(dunno what to do)
(Train long-suffering)
(Train long-suffering)
Train long-suffering
Train long-suffering
O she ain't never comin back
O she ain't never comin back
O she ain't never comin back
O she ain't never comin back
And the name of the pain is...
And the name of the pain is...
The name of the train is...
The name of the train is
Pain and suffering.
I know you've heard it all before
But I'm sorry for this three year war
For the setting up of camps
and wire and trenches
I'm sorry for the other night
I know sorry it don't make it right
I'm sorry for things I can't even mention
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
You keep nailing me back into my box
I'm sorry I keep popping back up
With my crazy mouth
and jangling jester's cap
I'm sorry I ever wrote taht book
I'm sorry for the way I look
But there ain't a lot that
I can do about that
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry about the hospital
Some things are unforgivable
That things simply cannot be forgiven
I was not equipped to know how to care
Amnd on the occassions I came up for air
I saw my life and wondered
what the hell I had been living
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry about all your friends
I hope they'll speak to me again
I said before I'd pay for all the damages
I'm sorry it's just rotten luck
I'm sorry I've forgotten how to fuck
It's just that I think my heart
and soul are kind of famished
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
Forgive me, baby but don't worry
Love is always having to
say you're sorry
And I am, from my head
down to my shoes
I'm sorry that I'm always pissed
I'm sorry that I exist
And when I look into your eyes
I can see you're sorry too
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very thirsty in the Sorry Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well the night was deep and the night was dark
And I was at the old dance-hall on the edge of town
Some big ceremony was going down
Dancers writhed and squirmed and then,
Came apart and then writhed again
Like squirming flies on a pin
In the heat and in the din
Yes, in the heat and in the din
I fell to thinking about brand new wife of mad John Finn
Well, midnite came and clock did strike
And in she came, did John Finn's wife
With legs like scissors and butcher's knives
A tattooed breast and flaming eyes
And a crimson carnation in her teeth
Carving her way through the dance floor
And I'm standing over by the bandstand
Every eye gaping on John Finn's wife
Yeah, every eye gaping on John Finn's wife
Now John Finn's wife was something of a mystery
In a town where to share a sworn secret was a solemn duty
I had brass knuckles and a bolo knife
Over near the bandstand with John Finn's wife
She got perfumed breasts and raven hair
Sprinkled with wedding confettis
And a gang of garrotters were all giving me stares
Armed, as they were, with machetes
And the night through the window was full of lights
Winking and awatching at John Finns' wife
Winking and awatching at John Finns' wife
Next came the cops, all out on the town
But it don't look like no trouble there
As they had for the bar in their lumpy suits
And I slip my hand between the things of John Finn's wife
And they seemed to yawn awake, her things
It was a warm and very ferocious night
The moon full of blood and light
And my eyes grew small and my eyes grew tight
As I plotted in the ear of John Finns' wife
Enter John Finn in his shrunken suit
With his quick black eyes and black cheroot
With his filled-down teeth and a hobnail boot
And his fists full of pistols in his pockets
Aiming at me and aiming at his wife
The band fall silent fearing for their lives
And with fear in my guts like tangled twine
Cause all I got is brass knuckles and a bolo knife
And mad John Finns' wife is all
And the three of us walk out of the hall
Now the night bore down upon us all
You could hear the crickets in the thickets call
And guns did flare and guns did bawl
And I planted my bolo knife in the neck
Of mad John Finn. I took his wretched life
Now I'm over near the bandstand
Every hand moving on John Finns' wife
Every hand moving on John Finns' wife
And John Finns' wife
Took all the flowers down
From her hair
And threw them on the ground
And the flies did hum
And the flies did buzz around
Poor John Finn
Lying dead upon the ground
Lying dead upon the ground
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They're gonna lay me low (Lay me low)
They're gonna sink me in the snow
They're gonna throw back their heads and crow
When I go
They're gonna jump and shout (Lay me low)
They're gonna wave their arms about
All the stories will come out
When I go
All the stars will glow bright (Lay me low)
And my friends will give up the fight
They'll see my work in a different light
When I go
They'll try telephoning my mother (Lay me low)
But they'll end up getting my brother
Who'll spill the story on some long-gone lover
That I hardly know
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And I'll show you how it works
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now don't care how
Take your final bow
Make a stand Take my hand
And blow it all to hell
They gonna inform the police chief (Lay me low)
Who'll breathe a sigh of relief
He'll say I was a malanderer, a badlander, and a thief
When I go
They will interview my teachers (Lay me low)
Who'll say I was one of God's sorrier creatures
There'll print informative six-page features
When I go
They'll bang a big old gong (Lay me low)
The motorcade will be ten miles long
The world will join together for a farewell song
When they put me down below
They'll sound a fluegelhorn (Lay me low)
And the sea will rage, and the sky will storm
All man and beast will mourn
When I go
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And we can watch this damn thing turn
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now Do it now
Take a long last bow
Take my hand Make a stand
And blow it all to hell
Lay me low...
When I go...
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane
Horrors in her head
That her tongue dare not name
She lives alone by the river
The rolling rivers of pain
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
There is one shining eye on a hard-hat
The company closed down the mine
Winking on waters they came
Twenty hard-hats, twenty eyes
In her clapboard shack
Only six foot by five
They killed all her whiskey
And poured their pistols dry
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
Seems you've remembered
How to sleep, how to sleep
The house dogs are in your turnips
And your yard dogs are running all over the street
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
'O Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson
Why you close up shop so late'
'Just fitted out a girl who looked like a bird
Measured .32, .44, .38
I asked that girl which road she was taking
Said she was walking the road of hate
But she stopped on a coal-trolley up to New Haven
Population: 48'
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
Your guns are drunk and smoking
They've followed you right back to your gate
Laughing all the way back from the new town
Population, now, 28
Crow Jane Crow Jane
Crow Jane Ah hah huh
The boatman calls from the lake
A lone loon dives upon the water
I put my hand over her
Down in the lime tree arbour
The wind in the trees is whispering
Whispering low that I love her
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour
Through every breath that I breathe
And every place I go
There is hand that protects me
And I do love her so
There will always be suffering
It flows through life like water
I put my hand over hers
Down in the lime tree arbour
The boatman he has gone
And the loons have flown for cover
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour
Through every word that I speak
And every thing I know
There is hand that protects me
And I do love her so
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
Anyway I'm yearning to be done with all this weighing up of truth An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth And anyway I told the truth And
I'm not afraid to die
In heaven his throne is made of gold
And the Ark of his Testament is stone
A throne from which I'm told all nations do unfold
Down here I'm made of the wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away
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(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christina the Astonishing
Lived a long time ago
SHe was stricken with a seizure
At the age of twenty-two
They took her body in a coffin
To a tiny church in Liege
Where she sprang up from the coffin
Just after the Agnus Dei
She soared up to the rafters
Perched on a beam up there
Cried The stink of human sin
Is more that I can bear
Christina the Astonishing
Was the most astonishing of all
She prayed balanced on a hurdle
Or curled up into a ball
She fled to remote places
Climbed towers and trees and walls
To escape the stench of human corruption
Into an oven she did crawl
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in a terrifying way
She would run wildly through the streets
Jump in the Meusse and swim away
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in terrifying manner
Died at the age of seventy-four
In the convent of St Anna
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Born of the river,
Born of its never-changing, never-changing murky water
Huck standing like a Saint, upon its deck
If ya wanna catch a Saint,
then bait ja hook, let's take a walk...
'O come to me!, O come to me!' is what the dirt-irty
say to Huck... HUCK
woah-woah, woah woah!
Saint Huck! Huck!
Straight in the arms of the city goes Huck,
down the heckoning streets of op-po-tunity
whistling his favorite river-song...
And a bad-bline-nigger at the piano
Buts a sinister-bloo-lilt to that sing-a-long
Huck senses somthing's wrong!
Sirens wail in the city,
and lil-Ulysses turn to putty
Ol man River's got a bone to pick!
Our boys hardly got a bone to suck!
He go, woah-woah, woah woah!
Saint Huck! Huck!
The mo-o-o-on, its huge cycloptic eye
watches the city streets contract
twist and cripple and crack.
Saint Huck goes on a dog's-leg now
Saint Huck goes on a dog's-leg now
Why, you know the story!
Ya wake up one morning and ya find your a thug
blowing smoke fings in some dive
Ya fingers hot and itchin, cracking ya knuckles
Ya bull neck briseting...
Still Huck he ventures on whistling,
and Death reckons Huckleberry's time is up,
O woah woah woah!
Saint Huck! Huck!
Yonder go Huck, minus pocket-watch an' wallet gone
Skin shrinks wraps his skeleton
No wonder he got thinner, not, with his cold'n'skinny dinners!
Saint Huck-a-Saint Elvis, Saint Huck-a-Saint Elvis
O you recall the song ya used to sing-a-long
Shifting the river-trade on that ol' steamer
Life is only a dream!
But ya trade in the Mighty ol' man River
for the Dirty ol' Man Latrine!
The brothel shift
The hustle'n'the bustle and the green-backs rustle
And all the sexy-cash
And the randy-cars
And the two dollar fucks
O o o ya onto luck, onto luck
Woah-woah-woah-woah
Saint Huck! Huck!
I've searched the holy books
I tried to unravel the mystery of Jesus Christ, the saviour
I've read the poets and the analysts
Searched through the books on human behaviour
I travelled this world around
For an answer that refused to be found
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now
I loved her then and I guess I love her still
Hers is the face I see when a certain mood moves in
She lives in my blood and skin
Her wild feral stare, her dark hair
Her winter lips as cold as stone
Yeah, I was her man
But there are some things love won't allow
I held her hand but I don't hold it now
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now
This is her dress that I loved best
With the blue quilted violets across the breast
And these are my many letters
Torn to pieces by her long-fingered hand
I was her cruel-hearted man
And though I've tried to lay her ghost down
She's moving through me, even now
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now
She's nobody's baby now
Nobody's baby now
She's nobody's baby now
All the towers of ivory are crumbling
And the swallows have sharpened their beaks
This is the time of our great undoing
This is the time that I'll come running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
One more time
The light in our window is fading
The candle gutters on the ledge
Well now sorrow, it comes a-stealing
And I'll cry, girl, but I'll come a-running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
Once again
Gone are the days of rainbows
Gone are the nights of swinging from the stars
For the sea will swallow up the mountains
And the sky will throw thunder-bolts and sparks
Straight at you
But I'll come a-running
Straight to you
But I'll come a-running
One more time
Heaven has denied us its kingdom
The saints are drunk howling at the moon
The chariots of angels are colliding
Well, I'll run, babe, but I'll come running
Straight to you
For I am captured
Straight to you
For I am captured
One more time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave The Bad Seeds
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I got a woman
SHe rules my house with an iron fist
I got a woman
She rules my house with an iron fist
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
We bed in a bucket of butcher's knives
A awake with a hatchet hanging over my head
Well you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Yeah, you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Well they're hissing under the floorboards
Hanging down in bunches from my roof
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Etic...
Take a litle walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms,
like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires,
in the humming wires
Hey man, you know
you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge,
past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes
a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with
a red right hand
He'll wrap you in his arms,
tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams
it took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole,
heal your shrinking soul
Hey buddy, you know you're
never ever coming back
He's a god, he's a man,
he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name
through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat
is a red right hand
You ain't got no money?
He'll get you some
You ain't got no car? He'll get you one
You ain't got no self-respect,
you feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy,
cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio
and the bowery and the slum
A shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his
red right hand
(Organ solo)
You'll see him in your nightmares,
you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head,
on the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning
you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god,
he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog
in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
his red right hand
(Organ solo)