Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Final Rescue Attempt

The last time you came around here, it was to rescue me
You arrived just in time with your customary flair
You rode through the rain all the way from Castellain
With the wind, and the wind, oh the wind, in your hair

After that nothing ever really hurt again
Nothing ever really hurt, not even ordinary pain
As we’d sit, you and me, by the great aching sea
In the rain, in the rain, and the rain, oh the rain, oh the rain
And I will always love you
With the wind, with the wind, oh the wind in your hair

Who are these gods that you now defend?
And what purpose do they serve now at the end of time?
That we lay on our beds, with the rain on our heads
And my hand, searching for your hand, searching for my hand, searching for your hand, searching for mine

And I will always love you
And I will always love you
And I will always love you
And I will always love you

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Easy Money

It’s difficult. It’s very tough.
I said to the man who’d been sleeping rough
To sit within a fragrant breeze
All among the nodding trees
That hang heavy with the stuff

He threw his arms around my neck
He brushed the tear from my cheek
And held my soft white hand
He was an understanding man
He did not even barely hardly speak

Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me

All the things for which my heart yearns
Gives joy in diminishing returns
He kissed me on the mouth
His hands they headed south
And my cheek it burned

Money, man, it is a bitch
The poor, they spoil it for the rich
With my face pressed in the clover
I wondered when this would be over
And at home we are all so guilty-sad

Easy money
Pour it down the open drain
Pour it all through my veins
Pour it down, yeah, let it rain
And pour that ever-loving stuff down on me

Now, I’m sitting pretty down on the bank
Life shuffles past at a low interest rate
In the money-coloured meadows
And all the interesting shadows
They leap up, then dissipate

Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain it down until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Get Ready For Love

Get ready for love! Praise Him!
Get ready for love! Praise Him!
Get ready for love! Get ready!

Well, most of all nothing much
ever really happens
And God rides high up in the ordinary sky
Until we find ourselves at our most distracted
And the miracle that was promised
creeps quietly by

Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world
Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world

Get ready for love! Praise Him!
Get ready for love! Praise Him!

The mighty wave their hankies from their
high-windowed palace
Sending grief and joy down in supportable doses
And we search high and low without
mercy or malice
While the gate to the Kingdom swings
shut and closes

Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world
Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world

Praise Him till you’ve forgotten
what you’re praising Him for
Praise Him till you’ve forgotten
what you’re praising Him for
Then praise Him a little more

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Carry Me

I lay down by the river
The shadows moved across me, inch by inch
And all that I heard
Was the war between the water and the bridge
Turn to me, turn to me, turn to me
Turn and drink of me
Or look away, look away, look away
And never more think of me

Carry me
Carry me
I heard the many voices
Speaking to me from the depths below
This ancient wound
This catacomb
Beneath the whited snow
Come to me, come to me, come to me

Come and drink of me
Or turn away, turn away, turn away
And never more think of me

Carry me
Carry me away
Who will lay down their hammer?
Who will put up their sword?
And pause to see
The mystery
Of theWord

Carry me
Carry me
Carry me
Carry me away
Carry me
Carry me
Carry me
Carry me away

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Messiah Ward

I hope you’re sitting comfortably
I saved you the best seat in the house
Right up in the front row
The stars have been torn down
The moon is locked away
And the land is banked in frozen snow

You are a force of nature, dear
Your breath curls from your lips
As the trees bend down their branches

And touch you with their fingertips
They’re bringing out the dead, now
It’s easy just to look away
They are bringing out the dead, now
It’s been a strange, strange day

We could navigate our position by the stars
But they’ve taken out the stars
The stars have all gone
I’m glad you’ve come along
We could comprehend our
condition by the moon
But they’ve ordered the moon not to shine
Still, I’m glad you’ve come along
I was worried out of my mind
Cause, they keep bringing out the dead
It’s easy just to look away
They’re bringing out the dead, now
And it’s been a long, strange day

You can move up a little closer
I will throw a blanket over
We can weigh all the tears in one hand
Against the laughter in the other
We could be hanging around here for centuries
Trying to make sense of this, my dear
While the planets try to get organised
Way above the stratosphere
But they keep bringing out the dead, now
It’s easy if we just walk away
They keep bringing out the dead, now
It’s been a long, long day

Look away
Look away

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Deanna

O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna!
O DEANNA
You know you are my friend, yeah
O DEANNA
And I ain’t down here for your money
I ain’t down here for your love
I ain’t down here for you love or money
I’m down here for you soul

No carpet on the floor
And the winding-cloth holds many moths
Around your Ku Klux furniture
I cum a deaths-head in your frock
We discuss the murder pact
We discuss murder and the murder act
Murder takes the wheel of the Cadillac
And death climbs in the back

O DEANNA
This is a car
O DEANNA
This is a gun
O DEANNA
And this a day number one
O DEANNA
Our little crimeworn histories Black and smoking Xmas trees And honey, it ain’t a mystery Why you’re a mystery to me

We will eat out of their pantries
And their parlours
Ashy leavings in their beds
And we’ll unload into their heads
On this mean season
This little angel that I squeezin’
She ain’t been mean to me

O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
You are my friend and my partner
O DEANNA
On this house on the hill
O DEANNA
And I ain’t down here for your money
I ain’t down here for your love
I ain’t down here for your love or money
I’m down here for your soul

O DEANNA
I am a-knocking
O DEANNA
With my toolbox and my stocking
O DEANNA
And I’ll meet you on the corner
O DEANNA
Yes, you point it like a finger
O DEANNA
And squeeze it’s little thing
O DEANNA
Feel it’s kick, hear its bang
And lets not worry about its issue
Don’t worry about where its been
And don’t worry about where it hits
Cause it ain’t yours to sin

O DEANNA
No it just ain’t yours to sin
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna
O DEANNA
And we ain’t getting any younger
O DEANNA
And I don’t intend gettin’ any older
O DEANNA
The sun a hump at my shoulder
O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna
O DEANNA
And I ain’t down here for your money
I ain’t down here for your love
I ain’t down here for your love of money
I’m down here for your soul

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Carny

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 Away, away, we’re sad, they said

Dog-boy, atlas, half-man, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cast 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”
Now 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 can’t 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 then the rain came hammering down
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats growling in their 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 Charlie, the eldest of the three, said
“I guess the carny ain’t gonna show”
And they were silent for a spell
Wishing they’d done a better job of burying Sorrow

And as the company passed from the valley
Into 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

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - (I'll Love You) To The End Of the World

It was a miracle I even got out of Longwood alive
This town full of men with big mouths and no guts;
I mean if you can just picture it
The whole third floor of the hotel gutted by the blast
And the street below showered in shards of broken glass
And all the drunks pouring out of the dance halls
Staring up at the smoke and the flames;
And the blind pencil seller waving his stick
Shouting for his dog that lay dead on the side of the road;
And me, if you can believe this
At the wheel of the of the car
Closing my eyes and actually praying;
Not to God above but to you, saying:

Help me, girl; help me, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
With your eyes black as coal
And your long dark curls

Some things we plan
We sit and we invent and we plot and cook up;
Others are works of inspiration, of poetry;
And it was this genius hand that pushed me up the hotel stairs
To say my last goodbye
To a hair as white as snow and of pale blue eyes
[saying:]
I gotta go; I gotta go
The bomb in the bread basket are ready to blow
In this town of men with big mouths and no guts
The pencil seller's dog, spooked by the explosion
Leaping under my wheels as I careered out of Longwood
On my way to you waiting in your dress
In your dress of blue

I said:
Thank you, girl; thank you, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
With your eyes black as coal
And your long, dark curls

And with the horses prancing through the fields
With my knife in my jeans and the rain on the shield;
I sang a song for the glory of the beauty of you
Waiting for me
In your dress of blue

Thank you, girl. Thank you, girl
I'll love you till the end of the world
With your eyes black as coal
And your long, dark curls

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Jack's Shadow

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 stronger

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 Shadow, you’re just a gallow that I hang my body from”
“O Shadow, your a shackle from which 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?!”
“Is it any wonder?!”

Jack 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 shines
And the sun it shines
And the sun it shines
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

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Black Hair

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 from 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 lingers the smell
Of her deep black hair
Full of all my whispered words,
Her black hair
And wet with tears and goodbyes,
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

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - O Children

Pass me that lovely little gun
My dear, my darling one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don’t even want to let them start

They are knocking now upon your door
They measure the room, they know the score
They’re mopping up the butcher’s floor
Of your broken little hearts

O children

Forgive us now for what we’ve done
It started out as a bit of fun
Here, take these before we run away
The keys to the gulag

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They’re gathering round with all my friends
We’re older now, the light is dim
And you are only just beginning

O children

We have the answer to all your fears
It’s short, it’s simple, it’s crystal clear
It’s round about, it’s somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

The cleaners have done their job on you
They’re hip to it, man, they’re in the groove
They’ve hosed you down, you’re good as new
They’re lining up to inspect you

O children

Poor old Jim’s white as a ghost
He’s found the answer that was lost
We’re all weeping now, weeping because
There ain’t nothing we can do to protect you

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Hey little train!We are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We’re happy, Ma, we’re having fun
And the train ain’t even left the station

Hey, little train!Wait for me!
I once was blind but now I see
Have you left a seat for me?
Is that such a stretch of the imagination?
Hey little train!Wait for me!

I was held in chains but now I’m free
I’m hanging in there, don’t you see
In this process of elimination

Hey little train!We are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We’re happy, Ma, we’re having fun
It’s beyond my wildest expectation

Hey little train!We are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We’re happy, Ma, we’re having fun
And the train ain’t even left the station

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Foi Na Cruz

Foi na cruz, foi na cruz
Que um dia
Meus pecados castigados em Jesus
Foi na cruz
Que um dia
Foi na cruz

Love comes a-knocking
Comes a-knocking upon our door
But you, you and me, love
We don’t live there any more

Foi na cruz, foi na cruz
Que um dia
Meus pecados castigados em Jesus
Foi na cruz
Que um dia
Foi na cruz

A little sleep, a little slumber
A little folding of the hands to sleep
A little love, a little hate, babe
A little trickery and deceit

Foi na cruz, foi na cruz
Que um dia
Meus pecados castigados em Jesus
Foi na cruz
Que um dia
Foi na cruz

Dream on ‘till you can dream no more
For all our grand plans, babe
Will be dreams forever more

Foi na cruz, foi na cruz
Que um dia
Meus pecados castigados em Jesus
Foi na cruz
Que um dia
Foi na cruz

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart

Something’s gotten hold of my heart
Keeping my soul and my senses apart
Something’s gotten into my life
Cutting its way through my dreams like a knife
Turning me up and turning me down
Making me smile and making me frown

In a world that was small
I once lived in a time there was peace with no trouble at all
But then you came my way
And a feeling unknown shook my heart, made me want you to stay
All of my nights and all of my days

I gotta tell you now
Something’s gotten hold of my hand
Dragging my soul to a beautiful land
Something has invaded my nights
Painting my sleep with a colour so bright
Changing the grey and changing the blue
Scarlet for me and scarlet for you

I’ve got to know if this is the real thing
I’ve got to know what’s making my heart sing
You smile and I am lost for a lifetime
Each minute spent with you is the right time
Every hour, every day
You touch me and my mind goes astray

I gotta tell you now
Something’s gotten hold of my hand
Dragging my soul to a beautiful land
Something has invaded my nights
Painting my sleep with a colour so bright
Changing the grey and changing the blue
Scarlet for me and scarlet for you

(originally recorded by David and Jonathan)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Sunday's Slave

Sunday’s got a slave
Monday’s got one too
Sunday’s got a slave
Monday’s got one too
Our sufferings are countless
Our pleasures are a motley few
Spend all day digging my grave
Now go get Sunday’s slave

Tuesday sleeps in the stable
Wednesday’s in chains
Tuesday gathers up the crumbs under the table
Wednesday dare not complain
My heart has collapsed on the tracks of a run-a-way train
Just whisper his name
And here comes Sunday’s slave

The hands in the stable are willing and able to pay
If you feel at loss, man, just who is the boss-man
Ask the blood on one of its bad days
For his nerve is to serve but the service is a mockery
He insists that he piss in your fist
But he still takes the money anyway
The master’s a bastard
But don’t tell Sunday’s slave

Thursday’s angered the master
O.K. so Friday’s gonna pay
Thursday’s angered the master
Yeah, so Friday’s gonna pay
One night on the rack and he’s back saddling up Saturday
You can only whisper his name
But not on Sundays
Never on Sundays
O Not on Sunday’s slave

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Sorrow's Child

Sorrow’s child sits by the river
Sorrow’s child hears not the water
Sorrow’s child sits by the river
Sorrow’s child hears not the water
And just when it seems as though
You’ve got strength enough to stand
Sorrow’s child all weak and strange
Stands waiting at your hand

Sorrow’s child steps in the water
Sorrow’s child you follow after
Sorrow’s child wades in deeper
Sorrow’s child invites you under
And just when you thought as though
All you tears were wept and done
Sorrow’s child grieves not what has passed
But all the past still yet to come

Sorrow’s child sits by the water
Sorrow’s child your arms enfold her
Sorrow’s child you’re loathe to befriend her
Sorrow’s child but in sorrow surrender
And just when it seems as though
All your tears were at an end
Sorrow’s child lifts up her hand
And she brings it down again

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Hey Joe

Hey Joe
Where you going with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe
Where you going with that gun in your hand?

I’m gonna shoot my baby
I caught her messin round
With another man

Hey Joe
I heard you shot your baby down
Hey Joe
I heard you shot your baby down

Yes I did I shot her
I went and put her in the ground

Hey Joe
Where you gonna run to now?
Hey Joe
Where you gonna run to now?

I’m heading way down South
Where I can be free
I’m heading Mexico way
No hangman’s about to put a leash around me

(originally recorded by Billy Roberts)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial

I am a crooked man
And I’ve walked a crooked mile
Night, the shameless widow
Doffed her weeds, in a pile
The stars all winked at me
They shamed a child
Your funeral, my trial

A thousand Marys lured me
To feathered beds and fields of clover
Bird with crooked wing cast
It’s wicked shadow over
A bauble moon did mock
And trinket stars did smile
Your funeral, my trial

Here I am, little lamb
Let all the bells in whoredom ring
All the crooked bitches that she was
(Mongers of pain)
Saw the moon
Become a fang
Your funeral, my trial

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Up Jumped the Devil

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 yonder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who’s that yonder 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 villain’s part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the chambers 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 yonder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who’s that yonder 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 wares
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 the proof”

O no don’t go O no
O slow down Joe
The righteous part
Is 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

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Cannibal's Hymn

You have a heart and I have a key
Lie back and let me unlock you
Those heathens you hang with down by the sea
All they want to do is defrock you
I know a river, where we can dream
It will swell up, burst it’s banks,
babe, and rock you
But if you’re gonna dine with them cannibals
Sooner or later, darling, you’re gonna get eaten
But I’m glad you’ve come around
here with your animals
And your heart that is bruised but unbeaten
And beating like a drum

I will sit like a bird on a fence
Sing you songs with a happy ending
Swoop down and tell you that it don’t make sense
To attack the very thing you’re defending
Didn’t I just buy that dress for you?

That pink paper pinafore that you keep mending
Well, if you’re gonna dine with the cannibals
Sooner or later, darling, you’re gonna get eaten
But I’m glad you’ve come around
here with your animals
And your heart that is banging and beating
And banging like a gong

I can see that they’ve hurt you, dear
Here is some moonlight to cloak us
And I will never desert you here
Unpetaled among the crocus
Allow me, my love, to allay your fear
As I swim, in and out of focus
But if you’re gonna dine with the cannibals
Sooner or later, darling, you’re gonna get eaten
But I’m glad you’ve come around
here with your animals
And your heart that is bruised but bleating
And bleeding like a lamb
Banging like a gong
Beating like a drum

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Lucy

Last night I lay trembling
The moon it was low
It was the end of love
Of misery and woe

Then suddenly above me
Her face buried in light
Came a vision of beauty
All covered in white

Now the bell-tower is ringing
And the night has stole past
O Lucy, can you hear me?
Wherever you rest

I’ll love her forever
I’ll love her for all time
I’ll love her till the stars
Fall down from the sky

Now the bell-tower is ringing
And I shake on the floor
O Lucy, can you hear me?
When I call and call

Now the bell-tower is ringing
And the moon it is high
O Lucy, can you hear me
When I cry and cry and cry