NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Long Time Man

Yeah, they came to take me away
Said I’d be sitting here for the rest of my life
But I don’t really care – I shot my wife
And brother, I can’t even remember the reason why

Oh, it makes a long time man feel bad
Yeah, it makes a long time man feel bad
Well I ain’t had no love since I don’t know when
It sure makes a long time man feel bad

We was down in Jacksonville
A cold winter night
My baby and I, we began to fight
I heated up, and I grabbed my gun
I get so cold on those nights down south

She was laying in a pool right there on the kitchen floor
She looked up at me and began to smile
Her gasping words: “Baby, I love you”
Then she closed those baby blue eyes

Oh, it makes a long time man feel bad
Yeah, it makes a long time man feel bad
Well I ain’t had no love since I don’t know when
It sure makes a long time man feel bad

Sometimes I hear you call my name
In the dead of the night

I ain’t had those arms around me
I ain’t had those lips, those lips, around me

Oh, it makes a long time man feel bad
Yeah, it makes a long time man feel bad
Well I ain’t had no love since I don’t know when
It sure makes a long time man feel bad
So bad

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Jack The Ripper

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – I Had A Dream, Joe

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Stranger Than Kindness

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Hard On For Love

It is for she that the cherry bleeds
That the moon is steeped in mild nad blood
That I steal like a robber
From her altar of love
O money lender! O clover gender!
I am the fiend hid in her skirts
And it’s as hot as hell in here
Coming at her as I am from above
Hard on for love hard on for love
Hard on for love hard on for love

Well, I swear I seen that girl before
Like she walked straight outa the book of Leveticus
But they can stone me with stones I don’t care

Just as long as I can get to kiss
Those gypsy lips! Gypsy lips!
My aim is to hit this Miss
And I’m moving in (I’m moving in)
Coming at her like Lazarus from above
Hard on for love hard on for love
Hard on for love hard on for love

The Lord is my shepard I shall not want
The Lord is my shepard I shall not want
But he ledeth me like a lamb to the lips
Of the mouth of the valley of the whadow of death
I am his rod and his staff
I am his sceptre and shaft
And she is heaven and hell
At whose gates I ain’t been delivered
I’m gunna give the gates a shove
Hard on for love hard on for love
Hard on for love hard on for love

And her breasts rise and fall
Breast rise and fall
Breast rise and fall
Breast rise and fall
And just when I’m about to get my hands on her
Just when I’m about to get my hands on her
Just when I’m about to get my hands on her
Just when I’m about to get my hands on her
You are beautiful! O dove!
Hard on for love hard on for love
Hard on for love hard on for love

Just when I’m about to get my hands on her
Just when I’m about to get my hands on her

Her breasts rise and fall
Her breasts rise and fall

Just when I’m about to get my hands on her
Just when I’m about to get my hands on her

Hard on for love hard on for love
Hard on for love hard on for love

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow

Where is Mona?
She’s long gone
Where is Mary?
She’s taken her along
But they haven’t put their mittens on
And there’s fifteen feet of pure white snow?

Where is Michael?
Where is Mark?
Where is Mathew
Now it’s getting dark?
Where is John? They are all out back
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow
Would you please put down that telephone
We’re under fifteen feet of pure white snow

I waved to my neighbour
My neighbour waved to me
But my neighbour
Is my enemy
I kept waving my arms
Till I could not see
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

Is anybody
Out there please?
It’s too quiet in here
And I’m beginning to freeze
I’ve got icicles hanging
From my knees
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

Is there anybody here who feels this low?
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

Raise your hands up to the sky
Raise your hands up to the sky
Raise your hands up to the sky
Is it any wonder?
Oh my Lord Oh my Lord
Oh my Lord Oh my Lord

Doctor, Doctor
I’m going mad
This is the worst day
I’ve ever had
I can’t remember
Ever feeling this bad
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow
Where’s my nurse
I need some healing
I’ve been paralysed
By a lack of feeling
I can’t even find
Anything worth stealing
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow

Is there anyone else here who doesn’t know?
We’re under fifteen feet of pure white snow

Raise your hands up to the sky
Raise your hands up to the sky
Raise your hands up to the sky
Is it any wonder?
Oh my Lord Oh my Lord
Oh my Lord Oh my Lord
Save Yourself! Help Yourself!
Save Yourself! Help Yourself!
Save Yourself! Help Yourself!
Save Yourself! Help Yourself!

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Do You Love Me?

I found her on a night of fire and noise
Wild bells rang in a wild sky
I knew from that moment on
I’d love her till the day that I died
And I kissed away a thousand tears
My lady of the Various Sorrows
Some begged, some borrowed, some stolen
Some kept safe for tomorrow
On an endless night, silver star spangled
The bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

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 insider 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

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 and 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
And the bells from the chapel go jingle-jangle

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 swear I made every effort not to abuse her
Crazy bracelets on her wrists and her ankles
And the bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

NICK CAVE & 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 your love or money
I’m down here for your soul

No carpet on the floor
And the winding cloth holds many moths
Around your Ku Klux furniture
I cum of death-head in your frock
We discuss the murder plan
We discuss murder and the murder act
Murder takes the wheel of your 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 christmas trees
And honey, it ain’t mystery
Why you’re a mystery to me

We will eat out of their pantries
And their parlours
Ashy leaving 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 its little thing
O Deanna
Feel its kick, hear its bang
And let no worry about its issue
Don’t worry about where its been
and don’t worry about where it hits
Cause it just ain’t yours to sin

O Deanna
No it just ain’t your 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 & THE BAD SEEDS – Christina The Astonishing

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

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Brother My Cup Is Empty

Brother, my cup is empty
And I haven’t got a penny
For to buy no more whiskey
I have to go home

I am the captain of my pain
Tis the bit, the bridle,
The trashing cane
The stirrup, the harness
The whipping mane
The pickled eye
The shrinking brain
O brother, buy me one more drink
I’ll explain the nature of my pain
Yes, let me tell you once again
I am the captain of my pain

O brother, my cup is empty
And I haven’t got a penny
For to buy no more whiskey
I have to go home

I cannot blame it all on her
To blame her all would be a lie
For many a night I lay awake
And wished that I could watch her die
To see her accusing finger spurt
To see flies swarm her hateful eye
To watch her groaning in the dirt
To see her clicking tongue crack dry
O brother, buy me one more drink
One more drink and then goodbye
And do not mock me when I say
Let’s drink one more before I die

O brother, my cup is empty
And I haven’t got a penny
For to buy no more whiskey
I have to go home

Well I’ve been sliding down on rainbows
Well I’ve been swinging from the stars
Now this wretch in beggars clothing
Bangs his cup across the bars
Look, this cup of mine is empty!
Seems I’ve misplaced my desires
Seems I’m sweeping up the ashes
Of all my former fires
So brother, be a brother
And fill this tiny cup of mine
And please, sir, make it whiskey
For I have no head for wine

O brother, my cup is empty
And I haven’t got a penny
For to buy no more whiskey
I have to go home

I counted up my blessings
And counted only one
One tiny little blessing
And now that blessings gone
So buy me one more drink, my brother
Then I’m taking to the road
Yes, I’m taking to the rain
I’m taking to the snow
O my friend, my only brother
Do not let the party grieve
So throw a dollar onto the bar
Now kiss my ass and leave

O brother, my cup is empty
And I haven’t got a penny
For to buy no more whiskey
I have to go home

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – Black Crow King

Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm
I am the black crow king
Mmmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm
I am the black crow king
Keeper of the nodding corn
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
All the hammers are a-talking
All the nails are a-singing
So sweet and low

You can hear it in the valley
Where live the lame and the blind
They climb the hill out of its belly
They leave with mean black boots on

“I just made a simple gesture
They jumped up and nailed it to my shadow
My gesture was a hooker
You know, my shadow’s made of timber.”

And the storm is a-rolling
And the storm is a-rolling
All down on me

And I’m still here rolling after everybody’s gone
And I’m still here rolling after everybody’s gone
Ah’m still here rolling and I’m left on my own
The blackbirds have all gone!
Everyone’s rolled on!

I am the black crow king
Keeper of the trodden corn
I am the king
Won’t say it again
And the rain, it raineth daily
Lord
And wash away my clothes
I surrender up my arms
To a company of crows
I am the black crow king
I won’t say it again

And all the thorns are a-crowning
King ruby on each spine
And the spears are a-sailing
O my o my

And the storm is a-rolling
And the storm is a-rolling
All down on me

And I’m still here rolling after everybody’s gone
And I’m still here rolling after everybody’s gone
I’m still here rolling and left on my own
Those blackbirds they have all flown and
I am on my own

I am the black crow king
Keeper of the forgotten corn
The King! The King!
I’m the king of nuthin’ at all
The hammers are a-talking
The nails are a-singing
The thorns are a-crowning him
The spears are a-sailing
The crows are a-mocking
The corn is a-nodding
The storm is a-rolling
The storm is a-rolling
The storm is a-rolling down
The storm is a-rolling down
The storm is a-rolling
Down on me
Rolling down on me
Rolling down on me

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – As I Sat Sadly By Her Side

As I sat sadly by her side
At the window, through the glass
She stroked a kitten in her lap
And we watched the world as it fell past
Softly she spoke these words to me
And with brand new eyes, open wide
We pressed our faces to the glass
As I sat sadly by her side

She said, “Father, mother, sister, brother,
Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece,
Soldier, sailor, physician, labourer,
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest
Earth and moon and sun and stars
Planets and comets with tails blazing
All are there forever falling
Falling lovely and amazing”

Then she smiled and turned to me
And waited for me to reply
Her hair was falling down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side

As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our indifferent faces to the glass
“That may be very well”, I said
“But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbours
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see”

With trembling hand I turned toward her
And pushed the hair out of her eyes
The kitten jumped back to her lap
As I sat sadly by her side

Then she drew the curtains down
And said, “When will you ever learn
That what happens there beyond the glass
Is simply none of your concern?
God has given you but one heart
You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers

And God don’t care for your benevolence
Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others
Nor does he care for you to sit
At windows in judgement of the world He created
While sorrows pile up around you
Ugly, useless and over-inflated”

At which she turned her head away
Great tears leaping from her eyes
I could not wipe the smile from my face
As I sat sadly by her side

NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS – And No More Shall We Part

And no more shall we part
It will no longer be necessary
And no more will I say, dear heart
I am alone and she has left me

And no more shall we part
The contracts are drawn up,
The ring is locked upon the finger
And never again will my letters start
Sadly, or in the depths of winter

And no more shall we part
All the hatchets have been buried now
And all of birds will sing to your
beautiful heart
Upon the bough

And no more shall we part
Your chain of command
Has been silenced now
And all of those birds
Would’ve sung to your beautiful heart
Anyhow

Lord, stay by me
Don’t go down
I will never be free
If I’m not free now

Lord, stay by me
Don’t go down
I never was free
What are you talking about?

For no more shall we part
And no more shall we part

NICK CAVE feat. THE BAD SEEDS – A Box For Black Paul

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, just a little indication
Just who’ll dig the hole?
When ya done ransackin’ his room
grabbin any damn thing that shines,
throw the scraps down on the street
Like all his books and his notes.
All his books and his notes and
All the junk that he wrote
the whole fucken lot right up in smoke
Ain’t there nuthin sacred anymore
Won’t someone will build a box for Black Paul?
And their shootin off his guns
and their shootin off their mouths
saying ‘Fuck with us … and die!’
‘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
Black-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! O man it’s hot and
And some of them ants they just climb to the spot
Who threw the first stone at Black Paul?

‘Don’t ask 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 built 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 blood-rose grown…
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
Stand back everyone! Blood-black everyone!

Who’ll build a box for Black Paul?
Who’ll carry it up the hill?

‘Not I’, said the widow, adjusting her 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, nightly,
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 woods and the thickets
Come the ghosts of his victims
‘We love you!’
‘Ah love you!’
‘and this will not hurt a bit,
Outta my eyes was your rise to full glory
Spring up from the corp of life
We’ll go up, up, up, up, up into Death
up, up, up, up, inhale its breath
O yes, Death favours those that favor Death’

Here is the stone, and this is the inscription it 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 old widows weeping into their skirts
And all the lil gals and the lil Boys
And the scribes with their pens poised
All the hullaballoo, all the norse
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All the hullaballoo, all of the noise
clears his throat of black blood
singin Black Paul like a lonely boy…

We-e-e-ll, ah have cried one thousand tears
Ah’ve cried a thousand tears, its true
And the next stormy night you 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 girl hangin around

Well, ya know ah’ve beenn a bad-man
and Lord knows ah done some good things too
But ah confess, my soul will never rest
Until you’ve, until you’ve build
Until you’ve built a box for my gal, too.
my gal, too
my gal, too

NICK CAVE FEAT. 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