NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Wings Off Flies

She loves me, she loves me not
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 buzzin in my ear
but it’s more of her black-mail, ham shakespeare + lies
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 ya 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 tête-à-tête,
If ya wanna talk to me about Love’n'Pain
consult my ulcer, it’d be happy to co-operate
Wings off Flies, she loves me, loves me not
Uh hey, 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…
Fill’er 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

Welcome the solitary flyer ya
see it land on the rim of my glass
it’s going around and around and around
look I just don’t have the heart to hurt a fly
I grabbed it in my paw
snatched it up
and then I held it to my ear could hear it scream
could hear it scream and scream and scream
till it screamed not…
Hey Joe, ya know anything about this scream?

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – We Came Along This Road

I left by the back door
With my wife’s lover’s smoking gun
I don’t know what I was hoping for
I hit the road at a run
I was your lover
I was your man
There never was no other
I was your friend
Till we came along this road
Till we came along this road
Till we came along this road

I ain’t sent you no letters, Ma
But I’m looking quite a trip
The world spinning beneath me, Ma
Guns blazing at my hip
You were my lover
You were my friend
There never was no other
I hope you understand
Till we came along this road
Till We came along this road
Till We came along this road

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Watching Alice

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Sorrowful Wife

I married my wife on the day of the eclipse
Our friends awarded her courage with gifts
Now as the nights grow longer and the season shifts
I look to my sorrowful wife
Who is quietly tending her flowers
Who is quietly tending her …..

The water is high on the beckoning river
I made her a promise I could not deliver
And the cry of the birds sends a terrible shiver
Through me and my sorrowful wife
Who is shifting the furniture around
Who is shifting the furniture around

Now we sit beneath the knotted Yew
And the bluebells bob around our shoes
The task of remembering the telltale clues
Goes to my lovely, my sorrowful wife
Who is counting the days on her fingers

Who is counting the days on her …..
Come on and help me babe
Come on now
Help me babe
I was blind
The grass here grows long and high
Twists right up to the sky
White clouds roll on by
Come on now and help me babe
I was blind
I was a fool babe
I was blind
Come on now
A loose wind last night blew down
Black trees bent to the ground
Their blossoms made such a sound
That I could not hear myself think babe
Come on now
And help me babe
Help me now
I was blind
I was a fool

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Six Strings That Drew Blood

Guitar thug blew into town
His eyes like wheels spinnin’ round
Jerkin-off at every sound
Layin’ all his crosses down
O yeah
He got Six Strings
The Six Strings that drew blood

The bar is full of Holy-Joes
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Around the neck of our consumptive rose
is the root of all his sorrows
O yeah
He got Six Strings
Six Strings that drew blood
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Six Strings that drew blood

In the bathroom under cover
He turns on one tap to discover
He’s smashed his teeth out on the other
Well he look in the mirror and say
don’t fuck me brother
Cause I got Six Strings
Six Strings that drew blood

Numbin’ the runt of reputation they call rat fame
Top-E as a tourniquet
A low tune whistles across his grave
Forever the master and the slave of his Six Strings
A Holy-hole-a-whole-aria
Six Strings that drew blood.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Singer

As I walk these narrow streets
Where a million passin feet have trod before me
With my guitar in my hand
Suddenly I realize nobody knows me

Where yesterday the multitude
Screamed and cried my name out for a song
Today the streets are empty
And the crowds have all gone home

I pass a million houses
But there is no place that I belong
All I knew to give you
Was song after song after song

All the truths I tried to tell you
Were as distant to you as the moon
Born 200 years too late
And 200 years too soon

I’m a child of this age
Locked into the pages of your book
And when I am but dust and clay
And all the children stop to take a look

Will they marvel at the miracles I did perform
And the heights I did aspire
Or will they tear out the pages of the book
To light a fire

With the rain on my face
There is no place that I belong
Did you forget this fucking singer so soon?
And did you forget my song?

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Mercy Seat

It began when they come took me from my home
And put me in Dead Row,
Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.
And I’ll say it again
I.. am.. not.. afraid.. to.. die.

I began to warm and chill
To objects and their fields,
A ragged cup, a twisted mop
The face of Jesus in my soup
Those sinister dinner deals
The meal trolley’s wicked wheels
A hooked bone rising from my food
All things either good or ungood.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.

Interpret signs and catalogue
A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.
The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath at my hind
They are sick breath gathering at my hind

I hear stories from the chamber
How Christ was born into a manger
And like some ragged stranger
Died upon the cross
And might I say, it seems so fitting in its way
He was a carpenter by trade
Or at least that’s what I’m told

Like my good hand
tattooed E.V.I.L. across it’s brother’s fist
That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.

In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I’m told
All history does unfold.
Down here it’s made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.

Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
So I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.

My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.
Wears a wedding band that’s G.O.O.D.
‘Tis a long-suffering shackle
Collaring all that devil blood.

And the mercy seat is a-burning
And I think my head is flowing
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all this weighing up of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And I’ve got nothing left to lose
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway, there was no proof
And nor a motive why.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
A life for a life
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
And I’m not afraid to die.

Now the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I’m hoping
To be done with all these looks of disbelief.
A eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
A eye for a eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
But I’m not afraid to lie.

And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of proof
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
But I’m afraid I told a lie.

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Loom Of The Land

It was the dirty end of winter
Along the loom of the land
When I walked with sweet Sally
Hand upon hand

And the wind it bit bitter
For a boy of no means
With no shoes on his feet
And a knife in his 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 Sally breathed softly
In the majestic night

O baby please don’t cry
And try to keep
Your little hand upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep

The elms and the poplars
Were turning their backs
Past the rumbling station
We followed the tracks

We found an untrodden path
And followed it down
The moon in the sky
Like a dislodged crown

My hands they burned
In the folds of her coat
Breathing milky white air
From deep in her throat

O baby please don’t cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now go to sleep

I told Sally in whispers
I’ll never bring you harm
Her breast it was small
And warm in my palm

I told her the moon
Was a magical thing
That it shone gold in winter
And silver in spring

And we walked and walked
Across the endless sands
Just me and my Sally
Along the loom of the land

O baby please don’t cry
And try to keep
Your little head upon my shoulder
Now try to sleep

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – The Carnival Is Over

Say goodbye, my one true lover
And we’ll steal a lover’s song
How it breaks my heart to leave you
Now the carnival has gone

Oh my love, the dawn is breaking
And my tears are falling rain
For the carnival is over
We may never meet again

Like a drum my heart was beating
And your kiss was sweet as wine
But the joys of love are fleeting
For Pierrot and Columbine

Now the cloak of night is falling
This will be our last goodbye
Though the carnival is over
I will love you till I die

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Straight To You

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

NICK CAVE & 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 your 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 is 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 & 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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Say Goodbye To The Little Girl Tree

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 mainstem
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 that’s 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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Red Right Hand

Take a little walk to the edge of town
and 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,
but there won’t be a single thing
that you can do
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 don’t have no money?
He’ll get you some
You don’t have no car?
He’ll get you one
You don’t have 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

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Papa Won’t Leave You, Henry

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 passed 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 shit up 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

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Needle Boy

At the turn of the century I did many things to protect myself
I did many things to protect myself
I made myself a needle-boy
And i Hid him in the closet
And I made myself a money-man
And I hid him underneath the mattress
I made myself a spider-child
And I put him in a matchbox
And I forged myself a golden statuette
And I wrapped him in a hello magazine
And I hid im in a wall safe
And finally I made myself a spade-girl
And I put her in a garden shed
All to protect myself, you see
From the demon that was coming from the East
Or from the west
Then I sat on the rooftop and I waited
And when at last the demon came
From the East or from the West
And awoke me from my sleep
And awoke me to a particular point of view
And the needle-boy stuck him in the eye
And the money-man chocked him with coins
The spider-child bit him on the ankle
And the statuette crashed crashed down upon his head
And the spade-girl buried him underneath the house
And I danced on the rooftops
And I danced on the rooftops
And I danced to the western world
And I danced to the western world

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Muddy Water

Mary, grab the baby, the river’s rising
Muddy water taking back the land
The old-frame house, she can’t take-a one more beating
Ain’t no use to stay and make a stand

Well the morning light shows water in the valley
Daddy’s grave just went below the line
Things to say, you just can’t take em with ya
This flood will swallow all you’ve left behind

Won’t be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone

Mary, take the child, the river’s rising
Muddy water taking back my home
The road is gone, there’s just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I’ve left below
Shifting land, broken farms around me
Muddy water’s changing all I know

It’s hard to say just what I’m losing
Ain’t never felt so all alone

Mary, take the child, the river’s rising
Muddy water taking back my home

Won’t be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone

Mary, take the child, the river’s rising
Muddy water’s changing all I know
Muddy water’s changing all I know
Lord, this muddy water is taking back my home

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Mercy

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

NICK CAVE & 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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Love Letter

I hold this letter in my hand
A plea, a petition, a kind of prayer
I hope it does as I have planned
Losing her again is more than I can bear
I kiss the cold, white envelope
I press my lips against her name
Two hundred words. We live in hope
The sky hangs heavy with rain

Love Letter Love Letter
Go get her Go get her
Love Letter Love Letter
Go tell her Go tell her

A wicked wind whips up the hill
A handful of hopeful words
I love her and I always will
The sky is ready to burst
Said something I did not mean to say
Said something I did not mean to say
Said something I did not mean to say
It all came out the wrong way

Love Letter Love letter
Go get her Go get her
Love Letter Love letter
Go tell her Go tell her

Rain your kisses down upon me
Rain your kisses down in storms
And for all who’ll come before me
In your slowly fading forms
I’m going out of my mind
Will leave me standing in
The rain with a letter and a prayer
Whispered on the wind

Come back to me
Come back to me
O baby please come back to me