Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.
The Ballad of Robert Moore and Betty Coltrane by Nick Cave
Intro -
Cm
Cm
There's a thick set man with frog eyes who was standing by the door
Bb
and a little bald man with wing nut ears was waiting in the car
G# Bb Fm Bb
Well Robert Moore past the frog eyed man as he walked into the bar
Cm
and Betty Coltrane she jumped under the table
Cm
What's your pleasure asked the barman he had a face like boiled meat
Bb
"There's a girl called Betty Coltrane who I have come to see"
G# Bb Fm Bb
Well I haven't seen that girl round here for more than a week"
Cm
and Betty Coltrane she hid beneath the table.
Chords worked out by Andy Field (andyf@cogs.susx.ac.uk)
Note:
In actual fact the guitar only ever plays the last two lines of each phrase
(i.e. G# Bb Fm Bb Cm). The other lines are bass only. However you can
play guitar over the whole thing if you don't have access to a band!
(I'll Love You) Till 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 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
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
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
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
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
* Kicking Against the Pricks Chords *
Transcribed by: Paul McMullan and Trond J. Stroem for Something's
Gotten Hold Of My Heart, and Blake Cotton for The Singer and
Running Scared and All Tomorrow's Parties.
* Muddy Water
* I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
* Sleeping Analeah
* Long Black Veil
* Hey Joe
* The Singer
* All Tomorrow's Parties
* By The Time I Get To Phoenix
* The Hammer Song
* Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart
* Jesus Met The Woman At The Well
* The Carnival Is Over
* Running Scared
(Cash, Daniels)
* riff after every two lines or so
A------2-0-------
E----------2-----
F# B
As I walk these narrow streets
F#
Where a million passin feet have trod before me *
F#
With my guitar in my hand
B F#
Suddenly I realize nobody knows me *
B
Where yesterday the multitude
F#
Screamed and cried my name out for a song *
F#
Today the streets are empty
B F#
And the crowds have all gone home **
F#
I pass a million houses
B B
But there is no place that I belong *
F#
All I knew to give you
B F#
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?
(Velvet Underground)
These are just the standard chords, the way the Velvet Underground and I
assume the Seeds play it is with a gooseneck tuning where all the
strings are tuned to D.
C C Bb Bb/A C
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
F Dm G G
To all tomorrow's parties
(same)
A hand-me-down dress from who knows where
To all tomorrow's parties
F F G G
And where will she go and what shall she do
F F G G
When midnight comes around
C C Bb Bb/A C
She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown
F Dm C
And cry behind the door
Lead fill:
C
e:-1---0------------0------------------------------------------
B:---------3----3---1------------------------------------------
G:------------------0------------------------------------------
D:------------------2------------------------------------------
A:------------------3------------------------------------------
E:-------------------------------------------------------------
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
Why silks and linens of yesterday's gowns
To all tomorrow's parties
And what will she do with Thursday's rags
When Monday comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown
And cry behind the door
Solo: (this is almost it)
F C G C
e:-5-5-5-3-----------------------------------------------------
B:---------6-3-5-5-5-5-----------3---3-3-5-5-5-5---------------
G:-----------------------2-4-4-4---4---------------------------
D:-------------------------------------------------------------
A:-------------------------------------------------------------
E:-------------------------------------------------------------
F C G C
e:-8-8-8--7--5--------------1-1-1-0----0-----------------------
B:--------------3-5-5-5-5-----------3--1-----------------------
G:-------------------------------------0-----------------------
D:-------------------------------------2-----------------------
A:-------------------------------------3-----------------------
E:-------------------------------------------------------------
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
For Thursday's child is Sunday's clown
For whom none will go mourning
A blackened shroud, a hand-me-down gown
Of rags and silks, a costume
Fit for one who sits and cries
For all tomorrow's parties
Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart
(Greenaway/Cook)
(NOTE: These chords are really for Gene Pitney's
original; Cave does it in a lower key, but I haven't
bothered to check out which. - Trond.)
INTRO:
C G Em D
(Gm)Something's gotten hold of my (F)heart
Keeping my (Eb)soul and my (D7)senses a(Gm)part
Something's gotten into my (F)life
Cutting it's (Eb)way through my (D7)dreams like a (Gm)knife
(F)Turning me (Eb)up, and (D7)turning me (Gm)down
(F)Making me (Eb)smile, and (D7)making me (Gm)frown
(Gm)In a world that was (F)small
I once lived in a (Bb7)time that was (Eb)peace and
no (D7)troubles at (Gm)all
But then you came my (F)way
And a feeling (of) un(Gm)known shook my (F)heart,
made me (C7)want you to (F)stay
(C7)All of my (F)nights, and (C7)all of my (Eb)days
(D7) (yeah I gotta tell you now)
(Gm)Something's gotten hold of my (F)hand
Dragging my (Eb)soul to a (D7)beautiful (Gm)land
Yeah, something has invaded my (F)night
Painting my (Eb)sleep with a (D7)colour so (Gm)bright
(F)Changing the (Eb)grey, and (D7)changing the (Gm)blue
(F)Scarlet for (Eb)me, and (D7)scarlet for (G)you
(C) (G) (Em) (A)
I (A7)got to know if this is the real thing
I (A9)got to know it's making my heart sing
Wo-hoo-(D)o-ye-e-e-e-e e-(D9)
You (D7)smile and I am lost for a lifetime
Each (D9)minute spent with you is the (D7)right time
Every hour, every day
You touch me and my mind goes astray, yeah
Baby, baby
(Gm)Something's gotten hold of my (F)hand
Dragging my (Eb)soul to a (D7)beautiful (Gm)land
Something has invaded my (F)night
Painting my (Eb)sleep with a (D7)colour so (Gm)bright
(F)Changing the (Eb)grey, and (D7)changing the (Gm)blue
(?)Scarlet for (Eb)me, and (D7)scarlet for (Gm)you
A9:xx2423
D9:200210
(* Play the Bb7 as a bare chord on the 6th fret to make
it sound right, i.e. 686766. - Trond.)
Comments from Paul McMullan:
The position of the chords is about right I think. In
many cases they should be played on the start of the
word that follows the chord. For example, (F)scarlet
... means the F is played on the s. My positioning of
the chords isn't exactly the same as the sheet music -
it doesn't always correspond to where the guitar chord
has been placed. But it does agree with the chord (or
note) in the piano notation.
(???)
A
Just running scared
Bm
Each place we go
C#m
So afraid
E7 E9sus4 E7
That he might show
A
Yeah, running scared
Bm
What would I do
C#m
If he came back
E7 A
And wanted you
A
Just running scared
Bm
Feeling low
C#m
Running scared
E7
You loved him so
A
Just running scared
Bm
Afraid to lose
C#m
If he came back
E7 A A7
Which one would you choose
D D6
Then all at once
Dmaj7 D Dmaj7 D6
He was standing there
D D6
So sure of himself
Dmaj7 D Dmaj7 D6
His head in the air
D D6
My heart was breaking
Dmaj7 D
Which one would it be?
D D6 D E7 A
You turned around and walked away with me
* Kicking Against the Pricks Lyrics *
Table of Contents:
* Muddy Water
* I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
* Sleeping Analeah
* Long Black Veil
* Hey Joe
* The Singer
* All Tomorrow's Parties
* By The Time I Get To Phoenix
* The Hammer Song
* Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart
* Jesus Met The Woman At The Well
* The Carnival Is Over
* Running Scared
* Black Betty
(J. Bundrick)
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
I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
(J.L. Hooker)
Yeah, my baby left me this morning
And I don't care now, I don't care what the people say
Yeah, I did everything that I could, everything I
could,
Lord knows I did everything I could
I tried to satisfy her worried mind, that's what I did
You know she was nothing but trouble, trouble
She keep me worried all the time
God knows her movements are killing me
Yeah, my baby stayed out all night long, all night long
She keep me worried all the time
Yeah, I lay down last night I was thinking
Must I kill that woman? Must I kill that woman?
Oh Lord I get down on my knees
They tell me God forgivin' everything you do
But I don't care what the people say
I'm gonna kill that woman,
I'm gonna kill that woman, God knows
I'm gonna get down on my knees
(Newbury, Folger)
Yesterday the sun was shining but you're finding the
sun it
Don't shine all the time
A winter day suddenly came your way
And you ran into your mind
Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
Do you think you're ready for me?
Oh and yesterday is gone forever and ever, never
To be again
You looked for the sunshine, that brought warmth to
your mind
But find only rain
Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
No, you're not ready for me
But when yesterday becomes a memory, a memory
That we uncovered in time
If you still remember that cold September
I reigned in your mind
Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
Then you'd be ready for me
(D. Del, M. Wilkins)
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed 'neath the Town Hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me
The judge he said: Son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die
But I spoke not a word though it meant my life
For I'd been in the arms of my best friends wife
Now the scaffold is high and eternity is near
She stood in the crowd but shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold winds moan
In a long black veil she cries on my bones
(W. Roberts)
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
(Cash, Daniels)
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?
(L. Reed)
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
A hand-me-down dress from who knows where
To all tomorrow's parties
And where will she go and what shall she do
When midnight comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's gown
And cry behind the door
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
Why silks and plumes of yesterday's gowns
To all tomorrow's parties
And what shall she do with Thursday's rags
When Monday comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown
And cry behind the door
And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
For Thursday's child is Sunday's clown
For whom none will go mourning
A blackened shroud, a hand-me-down gown
Of rags and silks, a costume
Fit for one who sits and cries
For all tomorrow's parties
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
(J. Webb)
By the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be rising
And she'll find that note that I left hanging on the
door
And she'll laugh when she reads the part
That says: "I'm leaving"
Cause I've left that girl so many times before
And by the time I get to Albuquerque, she'll be working
And she'll take off time just to give me a call
And she'll hear that phone keep right on ringing and
ringing
On the wall, yeah oh, that's all
And by the time I make Oklahoma, she'll be sleeping
She'll turn softly in her sleep and call my name out
low
And then she'll cry just to think that I'd really leave
her, I left her
But time after time after time I tried to tell her so
But she just didn't know That I would really go
That I would really go
(A. Harvey)
Oh please don't send me out
Said the man with the hammer, hammering the anvil
I been walking on a road of rocks
And I keep on hammering, keep on hammering, keep on
hammering,
Hammering the anvil
Don't let the sun go down
Said the man with the fire, firing the furnace
I been buried in the snow
And I keep on firing, keep on firing, keep on firing,
Firing the furnace
Oh don't talk to me
Said the man with the chisel, chiseling the surface
I been sleeping far too long
And I keep on chiseling, keep on chiseling, keep on
chiseling,
Chiseling the surface
I don't know what you mean
Said the man with the shovel, shoveling the ashes
I been digging in the frozen ground
And I keep on shoveling, keep on shoveling, keep on
shoveling,
Shoveling the ashes
Shoveling the ashes
Chiseling the surface
Firing the furnace
Hammering the anvil
Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart
(Greenaway, Cooke)
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
Jesus Met The Woman At The Well
(Traditional, Arr. The Alabama Singers)
Jesus met the woman at the well
Jesus met the woman at the well
And he told her, everything that she'd done, that she'd
done
And he said, woman, look-a here woman,
Tell me where is your husband?
She said whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't have one
He said, woman, look-a here woman,
They tell me you have five husbands
And that man you have now sure ain't one
She went running, crying, God help me
She said whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you must be the
prophet
Because you told me everything that I've done
(T. Springfield, F. Farian)
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
(Orbison, Melson)
Just running scared, each place we go
So afraid, that he might show
Yeah, running scared, what would I do
If he came back and wanted you?
Just running scared, feeling low
Running scared that you love him so
Just running scared, afraid to lose
If he came back, which one would you choose?
And then all at once, he was standing there
So sure of himself, his head in the air
While my heart was breaking, which one would it be?
Then you turned round and walked right out on me
(Leadbelly)
A traditional version is also available.
Look-a look-a yonder (3x)
Well the sun done gone
The captain can't hold her (3x)
The way I do now
Ada got a gold mine (3x)
Way above her knees
The shiv (?) is golden (3x)
Above her knees
Look-a look-a yonder (3x)
Well the sun done gone
Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty had a baby, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was crazy, bam-e-lam (2x)
Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Oh, Betty Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty had a baby, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was crazy, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty didn't mind, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was blind, bam-e-lam (2x)
Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Jump steady Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
That Monday, I was arrested
Tuesday, I locked up in jail
Wednesday baby, my trial's tested
On Thursday, nobody could blow my bail
Yes, I'm almost done (3x)
And I ain't gonna yell against no bells
On Monday, baby I went a-walking
Tuesday, I .... asked to go
On Wednesday I sat down a-talking
On Thursday she hock all a my clothes
Yes, I'm almost done (3x)
And I ain't gonna .... no more
* Hee-Haw Lyrics (The Birthday Party) *
Transcribed by Maria...
* The Friend Catcher
* Waving My Arms
* Catman
* Mr. Clarinet
* Happy Birthday
* A Catholic Skin
* The Red Clock
* Faint Heart
* Death By Drowning
* The Hair Shirt
* Hats On Wrong
* Guilt Parade
* Riddle House
I have a friend in you, oh Mr Clarinet
You make me laugh, and then cry like the song of the
clarinet.
Marry me, marry me alive O
I put on my coat of trumpets
Will she be there? Is my piccolo on straight?
Her white stockings and red dress that goes
swish, swish, swish around her legs of lace
Marry me, marry me alive O
Could you tell her
Would you tell her for me, oh Mr Clarinet
That I love her love her, oh love her
I love her but I cannot wait
Marry me, marry me alive O
Oh maybe, oh maybe lie down
I love her, love her, love her
Love her love her love her love her
Happy Birthday
It's a very happy day
We are at lots of fun fun fun
And it's ice-cream and jelly
and a punch in the belly
How much can you throw over the walls?
And see how his face glows
It's a bike! What a surprise.
It's a big bike. What a big surprise.
It's a red bike. What a red surprise.
Oh, what a surprise.
But the best thing there
But the best thing there
Was the wonderful dog chair
Was the beautiful dog chair
That could count right up to ten
It could count right up to ten
It went woof, woof, woof, woof, woof,
woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.
And it's another happy day.
He was born eleven years ago
And this year it's long trousers
and a very smart tie.
Just think in five years he'll be shaving.
And see how his face glows
It's a bike. What a surprise!
It's a samurai sword.
What a metal surprise.
He'll remember this day for the rest of his life.
But the best thing there
But the best thing there
Is that fabulous dog chair
The immaculate dog chair
That could count right up to eleven
It could count right up to eleven
It went woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof,
woof,
woof, woof, woof.
But the best thing there
But the best thing there
Was my darling the dog chair
But the rampaging dog chair
That could count right up to eleven
It could count right up to eleven.
And it went round and round the house.
* Junkyard Lyrics (The Birthday Party) *
Transcribed by Lehn Fitzgerald...
Table of Contents:
* She's Hit
* Dead Joe
* The Dim Locator
* Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow)
* Several Sins
* Big-Jesus-Trash-Can
* Kiss Me Black
* Six Inch Gold Blade
* Kewpie Doll
* Junkyard
* Release The Bats
* Blast Off
there is woman-pie in here
mr. evangalist says she's hit
the best cook you ever had
ya can't blame the good-woman now, dad
and ya looked him up for 20 years
now there's action on the basement stairs
a monster half man half beast climbs
hear the hatchet (grind, grind)
pilgrim gets 1 hacked daughter
and all we guys get are 40 hack reporters
uptown 100 skirts are bleeding
mr. evangilist says
she's hit ev'ry little bit
she's hit ev'ry little bit
now if only we could all grow wings and fly
sweet hatchet swing low son
I'm feeling pretty lonesome
christen the bastard jack dad
the head-shrinker is a quack
"anyone who'd wear their hair like that"
the vinyl is so cool/the conversation's cruel
hold my heart romeo its in a rodeo
hold my head daddy-o it just won't go-o-o-o
and all the girls across the world
are hit ev'ry little bit
Oh-ho-ho-ho Dead Joe
Welcome to the car smash
Dead Joe
Junk sculpture turning back to junk Dead Joe
Oh joe nooooo! it's christmas time Joe
it's christmas time now for you and all the little
bells are hanging 2X2 the holly and the nativity
oh speak to me Joe speak to me Joe speak to me Joe
oh-oh-oh-ho
Dee---e---e--e--e-e-ad Joe
welcome to the car crash
you can't tell the boys from the girls anymore
oh-ho-ho
Dead Joe, the end.
Inanimational items elude I, and
In-an-emotional-motion I swallow my
Motive of quicker location is slammed
my dim chance of skipping this thick world is thin
They call me Dim
I am the Dim Locator
Dim Locator
Loco, lomo, loco, lomo l'wow, wow, wow
(same as above)
intrigueinometry treads on my trail
Entriggering traps for a gross gang of ghost types
Who later are packed in a cast iron trunk
these things have been known, to get out of their wraps
Don't call me Dim
I am the Dim locator
Dim Locator
Loco, lomo......
Fog fished and filtered is filling my case book, of
friends who fall foul of my files trip and breakneck
are stacked in the woodshed for further good use
Theres some certain people who shouldn't start fires
So call me Dim!
I am the Dim Locator!
Dim Locator!
Don't call me Dim!
Hamlet fishin' in the grave
thru custard bones and stuff
he aint got no friend in there
I believe our man's in love
Hamlet's got a gun-now
he wears a crucifex
pow pow pow pow
Hamlet moves so beautiful
walking thru the flowers
who are hing 'round the corners
He's movin' down the street-now
he likes the look of that cadillac
pow pow pow pow
Is this love some kinda love
Now he movin' down my street
and he's coming to my house
crawling up my stairs
Where for art thou baby-face
where-for-art-thou
pow pow pow pow
Is this love
Pow!
He shoot it inside
Don't let'em steal your heart away
he went and stole my heart
POW!!
hey hey hey
POW!!
This is a dead letter tale
If I could make this print talk
You made a deep mark/deep mark on me
and only saints say such things as those
so I slid under the floor
under the oak and the iron
with you under oak and iron
under the thick and under the thin
where only fire grows
I forgot to tell you several things-Ma
I forgot to tell you 'bout the 7 sins
And I spat dead letter words
and all the breath that I own
imprinted one word in red/I read
And only saints say such things as these
(about the marks on your throat)
Under the oak and the iron
under the fat and the thick and the thin
and all of that, and a few 100 more
and only fire grow
I heard the fire grow
Alone in the......
Big Jesus soulmates Trash Can
fucking rotton business this
bot feet in the bad-boot
siff in the crypt, babay, like a rock
rock-rock-rock
Big-Jesus soul-mates Trash-Can
pumped me fulla Trash at least it smelt like Trash
wears a suit of Gold (got greasy hair)
but God gave me sex appeal
well-well-well-rock
he drives a trash can
he's comin to my town rock rock rock
ro-o-o-o-o-ck!
Big Jesus Oil King down in Texas
drives great holy tanks of gold
screams from heaven's graveyard
American heads will roll in Texas (roll like Daddies
meat)
roll under those singing stars of Texas
well-well-well
he drives a trash can
he's coming to my town
Now they put the stink on us
stuffed us fulla incubus
choc-o-block with sucubus
never more than fuck to us
c'mon and kiss me black
I stuck a six inch gold blade inside the head of a girl
she: lying through her teeth
him: lying on his back
hands of this one,hands off she cried
grinning at me from hip to hip
hands off, pretty baby, tough blood then so soft to
slip
ooohh yeah
I stuck a six inch gold blade in the head of a girl
sharks fun slices suger-bed slices that pretty red-head
I love you! now me! I love you!
laughter, laughter
oh baby, those skinny girls, they're so quick to murder
ooohhh yeah.
Shake it baby, c'mon, shake, shake it baby
Well I love that Kewpie Doll
yeah I bought her in a show
I dressed her up in a cheap red cotton dress
but everything was either fished-out or spat out
fished out or spat out
well i love that kewpie doll
but I could not make it stick
only she could save my soul
she put her hands inside of me
well I love that kewpie-doll
dressed her in a cheap red cotton dress
fished it out now
spat it our now
spat it out in front of me
well I love that kewpie doll
but I could not make it stick
doll doll doll doll
I held her in my cheap arms
she believed in me her soul plus my arms
well I love that kewpie doll
I told her phony storys
i love that kewpie doll
she believed in me
doll doll dolll doll
cupie on a stick
I can see her coming even now
kupie on a stick
I can see her walking to me even now
well I love that kewpie-doll
but I could not make it stick
I am the King, I am the kind
One dead marine through the hatch
scratch and scrape this heavenly body
every ince of winning skin
there's garbage in honeys sack again
honey honey honey honey
come on and kiss me
Honey honey honey
honey's child is taken over this place
two dead marines standing in line
drink to me! this heavenly body
every inch a winning thing
honey honey honey
hack hack hack hack this heavenly body
yack yack yack yack yack goes junk-face
scratch scape scratch this winning skin
there's garbage in honey's sack again
garbage in honey garbage in honey
garbage in honey's sack again
garbage in honey
junkwayrd king junkyard king
King king king
Whoooahh! Bite! Whoooah! Bite!
Release the bats! Release the bats!
Don't tell me that it doesn't hurt
a hundred fluttering in your skirt
don't tell me that it doesn't hurt
My baby is alright
she doesn't mind a bit of dirt
she says "horror vampire bat bite"
she says "horror vampire
How I wish those bats would bite"
Whoooah! Bite
Release the bats! Release the bats!
Pump them up and explode the things
Her legs are chafed by sticky wings
(sticky sticky little things)
My baby is a cool machine
she moves to the pace of her generator,
says damn that sex supreme
she says damn that horror bat
sex vampire, cool machine
Release the bats! Release the bats!
Release them!
Baby is a cool machine
she moves to the pulse of a generator
she says damn that sex supreme
she says, she says damn that horror bat
sex horror sx bat sex horror sex vampire
sex bat horror vampire sex
coll machine
horror bat. Bite!
Cool Machine. Bite!
Sex vampire. Bite!
This time it's the truth
this time nothings goinna fall on through
these books
are broken up
Blast off!
Wham! bam!
Right off the shelf
Right off the shelf
Blast off!
This is it- the last one
This ine's the final-in-a-fair-field-of-wheat
This building
Will may be fall down
Blast off!
Down! down!
Down! down!
The ground
Down! down!
The ground
Blast off!
* Mutiny!/The Bad Seed EP Lyrics (The Birthday Party) *
Transcribed by Maria and Blake.
Table of Contents:
* Jennifer's Veil
* Mutiny In Heaven
* Swampland
* Say A Spell
* Sonny's Burning
* Wild World
* Fears Of Gun
* Deep In The Woods
* Pleasure Avalanche
* The Six Strings That Drew Blood
* Vixo
So you've come back for Jennifer
You know, she hides her face behind a veil
I'm warning you Frankie, leave on the next train
Your Jennifer she just isn't the same
Quit waving that thing about! Come back!
Come back and give me a chance to explain
Your baby will never cry again.
So don't try to reach out
And don't let the ship's flag down
Point the figure-head at the storm
And drive her hard upon
Don't stop and don't stop
And don't let the veil drop
(Another ship ready to sail--the rigging is tight
Tight like Jennifer's veil).
She drew the curtain on her face
Ever since they came and burnt the old place down
Why is she searching through the ashes?
Why, only Jennifer knows that now.
And the officer, without a word,
Left all his junk and just moved out.
So don't try to reach out
And don't let the ship's flag down
Point the figure-head at the glass
Smash! Smash! into shards
Don't stop and don't touch!
And don't let the veil drop...behind Jennifer's veil
Oh God! Frankie! Is that really you!
Get back! Don't reach out!
Get back, and get that lantern out of my room!
Don't try to reach out
And don't let the ship's flag down
Down, down over her, like a shroud
And let her sail on the sea like a stone.
Don't touch and don't touch
And don't let the veil drop
Another ship ready to dock...the rigging comes loose...
Well ah jumpt! and fled this fucken heap on doctored
wings
Mah flailin pinions, with splints and rags and
crutches!
(Damn things nearly hardly flap)
Canker upon canker upon one million tiny punctures
That look like...
Long thin red ribbons draped across the arms of a lil
mortal girl
(Like a ground -plan of Hell)
Curse these smartin strings! These fucken ruptures!
Enough! Enough is enough!
(If this is Heaven ah'm bailin out)
If this is Heaven ah'm bailin out
Ah caint tolerate this ol tin-tub
So fulla trash and rats! Felt one crawl across mah soul
For a seckon there , as thought as wassa back down in
the ghetto!
(Rats in Paradise! Rats in Paradise!)
Ah'm bailin out! There's a mutiny in Heaven!
Ah wassa born...
And Lord shakin, even then was dumpt into some icy
font,
like some great stinky unclean!
From slum-chuch to slum-church, ah spilt mah heart
To some fat cunt behind a screen...
Evil poppin eye presst up to the opening
He'd slide shut the lil perforated hatch...at night mah
body
blusht
To the whistle of the birch
With a lil practice ah soon learnt to use in on mahself
Punishment?! Reward!! Punishment?! Reward!!
Well, ah tied on...percht on mah bed ah was...
sticken a needle in mah arm...
Ah tied off! Fucken wings burst out mah back
(Like ah was cuttin teeth!!)
Ah took off!!!
(Rats in Paradise! Rats in Paradise!)
There's a mutiny in Heaven!
Oh Lord, ah git down on mah knees
(Ah git down on mah knees and start to pray)
Wrapped in mah mongrel wings, ah nearly freeze
In the howlin wind and drivin rain
(All the trash blowin round 'n' round)
>From slum-heaven into town
Ah take mah tiny pain and rollin back mah sleeve
(Roll anna roll anna roll anna roll)
Ah yank the drip outa mah vein! UTOPIATE! Ah'm bailin
out!
UTOPIATE!
If this is Heaven ah'm bailin out!
Mah threadbare soul teems with vermin and louse
Thoughts come like a plague to the head...in God's
house!
Mutiny in Heaven!
(Ars infectio forco Dio)
To the plank!
(Rats in Paradise! Rats in Paradise!)
Ah'm bailin out!
(Hail Hypuss Dermio Vita Rex!)
Hole inna ghetto! Hole inna ghetto!
(Scabio Murem per Sanctum...Dio, Dio, Dio)
Quixanne, ah'm in its grip
Quixanne, ah'm in its grip
Sinken in the mud
Patron-saint of the Bog.
They cum with boots of blud
Wit pitchfawk and with club
Chantin out mah name
Got doggies strainin onna chain
Lucy, ah'll love ya till the end!
They hunt me like a dog
Down in Sw-a-a-a-amp Land!
So cum mah executioners! Cum bounty hunters!
Cum mah county killers--for ah cannot run no more
Ah cannot run no more
Ah cannot run no more
No I can't!
Lucy, ya won't see this face agin
Wheb ya caught ya swing and burn...
Down in Sw-a-a-a-amp Land!
The trees are veiled in fog
The trees are veiled in fog
Like so many jilted brides
Now they're all breakin down and cry
Cryin tears upon mah face
Cryin tears upon mah face
And they smell of gasolene
a-a-a-a-ah- scr-e-e-e-a-am
Lucy, ya made a sinner out of me
Now ah'm burnin like a saint
Down in Sw-a-a-a-amp Land!
So cum mah executioners! Cum mah bounty huntahs!
Cum mah county killers--ya know ah cannot run no more
No ah cannot run no more.
Have you heard how Sonny's burning
Like some bright erotic star?
And He lights up the proceedings
And raises the temperature.
Flame on! Flame on!
Now I've seen to Sonny's burning
Someday I think I'll cut him down
But it can get so cold in here
And he gives off such an evil heat.
Flame on! Flame on!
Hail my incubatic incubator.
Now pay witness to Sonny's burning
Warming the damp and rotten seed
Warming the damp and rotten seed
That blooms into the DEMON FLOWER
Now both fire and flowers consume me.
Flame on! Flame on!
Evil heat is running through me
Flame on! Flame on!
Sonny's burning pits into me
Flame on! Flame on!
Sonny's burning holes into me
Don't interrupt! Don't interrupt!
Flame on! Flame on!
Hold me up baby for I may fall
Hold my dish-rag body tall
Our bodies melt together (we are one)
Post crucifixion baby, and all undone.
It's a wild world
Church bells ring out the toll of our night
Forward and forever backward
Forever backward forever forward alright
Strophe and antistrophe strophe and antistrophe
Antistophe antistrophe
(C'mon baby, hold me tight)
Up here in your arms tonight.
Don't push me
Don't push me
It's a wild world.
Gun wears his alcoholism well
Finger in Bottle and swingin' it still
From Bed to Sink and back again
Clock is crawlin' round the same
He's bustin' Clock (he hates its face)
Just sittin' and talkin' to Heart and ticks
Talkin' back to Clock in slow and studied kicks
The fears of Gun are the fears of everyone.
Fingers down the throat of love
Fingers down the throat of love
Fingers down the throat of love
Love! Love!
Gun does the waltz around the room
Collecting Table and Chairs and Sofa and so on and so
on
Gun wears his best blue suit, now let's take to the sky
'We'll go dancin' and eatin' it up
Get a bottle and push it on down'
And let's just beat it up
Transistor radio plays an overwhelmingly sad and lonely
song
Saying 'Where she gone? Where she gone?'
The fears of Gun are the fears of everyone.
Fingers down the throat of love
Fingers down the throat of love
Fingers down the throat of love
Love! Love!
The woods eats the woman and dumps her honey-body in
the mud
Her dress floats down the well and it assumes the shape
of the body of a little girl
Yeah I recognize that girl
She stumbled in some time last loneliness
But I could not stand to touch her now
My one and onlyness.
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods a funeral is swinging.
Worms make their cruel design
Saying D-I-E into her skin
Saying DEAD into belly and DEATH into shoulder
Well last night she kissed me but than DEATH was upon
her.
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods a funeral is swinging.
Now the killed waits for the killer
And the trees all nod their heads, they are agreed
This knife feels like a knife feels like a knife that
feels like it's feed.
Yeah I recognize that girl
I took her from rags right through to stitches (pray
for me now)
Oh baby, tonight we sleep in separate ditches.
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods
Deep in the woods a funeral is swinging.
Love is for fools and all fools are lovers
It's raining on my house and none of the others
Love is for fools and God knows I'm still one
The sidewalks are filled with love's lonely children
The sidewalk regrets that we had to kill them.
Ah fed Vixo on ev'ry fear 'n' fret 'n' phobia
Til it nor ah could stand the strain no longer
Sucked a chicken bone, tossed it in the corner
Raisin up like Lazaurs, up, up from its cot
An making for the door, now...
Infant-prodigy creates a phantom-friend, yeag
Stickin' sack an ol' Jack-Jack into its itchin-ten
Oh! Don't ya linger! Ooh! Don't ya linger, now,
Mah monster-piect...mah perfect-murder-machine
Don't ya linger, for ah can feel mah youth slipping
outa me
Yeah, ah can feel mah youth slip outa me.
Call it, Call it Vixo. Call it Vee.
ah all it, an it comes to me.
Call it Vixo. Call it me
March headlong into the heart of fear
Ah will follow thee.
What kept ya? Whaa? What kept ya?
You get trouble? Sum'n go wrong?
Vixo grinning, climbs up into mah lil boy arms.
What you get?
Tell me, what ya gone 'n' brung me from the hollow?
Yeah! We're laughin'...but our laughter is shallow
Ain't it funny...my childhood name is Sorrow.
Vixo sighs, 'n' lays its head upon mah pillow.
Call it. Call it Vixo. Call it Vee.
Call it, an it comes to me.
Vee...ah...Hex...Oh-oh, come crawl with me.
Into the dark heart of despair
Ah will not forsake thee.
Listen...Instruction!
Ditch it, Pitch it. Now hitch it up along the ridge
Ya laughin b'neath the Sherriff's wheels
That go screamin cross Hooper Bridge
Skirt the out-skirts. Up mah back-stair. Ya sack all
undone.
Don't touch nothin! Water runnin in the tub
Get there! and scrub ev'ry one.
When ya STRUCK ya STRUCK!
Ya struck a thousand crickets dumb
Hooper-Hollow iced over then, all hush, hush
In the cool midday sun
Hush! Ah say Hush! Hu-u-u-ush!
Sittin on the roof, laugh at mahself
As they rope off the woods
Watchin' all the good-people
go beating the bush.
* Prayers On Fire Lyrics (The Birthday Party) *
Transcribed by Lehn Fitzgerald...
Table of Contents:
* Zoo Music Girl
* Cry
* Capers
* Nick The Stripper
* Ho-Ho
* Figure Of Fun
* King Ink
* A Dead Song
* Yard
* Dull Day
* Just You And Me
* Blundertown
* Kathy's Kisses
Zoo-music girl, zoo-music girl
Our ligfe together is a hollow tooth,
spit out the shells, spit out the shells,
You know exactly what I'm talking about
Don't drag the orchestra into this thing
Rattle those sticks, rattle those sticks
The sound is beautiful, its perfect!
The sound of her young legs in stockings
the rhythem of her walk, it's beautiful
Just let it twist, let it break
let it buckle, let it bend
I wnat the noise of my zoo music girl
zoo-music girl zoo-music girl
My body is a monster driven insane
my heart is a fish toasted by flames I kiss the hem of
her skirt
We spend our lives in a box full of dirt
I murder her dress and she loves it
If there is one thing I desire in the world is to make
love to my zoo-muic girl
zoo-music girl, zoo-music girl
The sound is beautiful! It's perfect!
I call out her name in the night
Zoo-music girl zoo-music girl
I call her by her family name
zoo-music girl zoo-musivc girl
Oh God! Please let me die beneath her fists
Zoo-Music Girl Zoo-music girl
When ya walk out of here
when ya walk out
I gotta fill up that space
or fill up that no-space
I'll fill it up with tears [4 lines of this line
repeated]
Cry Cry Cry Cry
Where no-fish can swim [4 lines of this line]
Cry Cry Cry
When ya slam that door when that door slams
I gotta fill up that space
an' I'll pack my suitcase
I'll fill it up with clothes
or I'll fill it up with no clothes
I'll fill it up with tears
and I'll Pack it up with tears etc. [written in lyric
book, I think it returns to the chorus of CRy Cry Cry
Where no fish can swim]
When Ya say goodbye
when ya say goodbye
I'll dig my-self a hole
and fill up that space
I'll fill it up with flesh
an' I'll fill it up with no flesh
I'll fill it up with tears etc.
Fish Swim Cry Fish CRRRRYYYY
All words that look prounouncable are not typos, any that look
unpronouncable are probably typos. Each set of two lines is one
line in the lyric book. (ie. what has not got....sir names)(one
line)
What has not got my heart in it shall we be dubbed sir
names
wither million blither tongues mounting bristling guilt
frames
in the fake-ache of the gloomloom slippers slap me
alive!
The hours hands down a miracle to spend with ugly types
so we can catch and thread a minstrel bleed a tower
down to its ankles
so we can't go up or stay up find the thumb dumb' in
your ear brain
Get unfunny! Such as choirs do why the clocklock bought
up this one
Just when things seem so paperparrent like my
toothface? Like my out-do?
Oh a streak, O'treacly [not a typo] ink-inks tied my
knees all up in elbows
erase that lapsing smile tub lose the slip of the small
soap-fellows
Account the addups till Do-nots are we balanced? we're
in business!
Idle tidal, rush in, tried all with a limb's... all
legs and armour
I had a dreadful diehood diehard drunken sunken,
Monk-heart
Oh I had a Wonderful diehood thanks to my fa. fa.
family
Nick the stripper
hideous to the eye
hideous to the ee
he's a fat little insect
a fat little insect
and OOOOOOHHHH! Here we go again
Nick the stripper
dances on all fours
dances on all fours
He's in his birthday suit
he's in his birthday suit
and oooooohhhh! here we go again
Nick the stripper
hideous to the eye
hideous to the eye
he's a fat little insect
a fucked little insect
and OOOOOOOOHHHH! Here we go again
Insect insect insect insect
Worn and gnawn
a little hole
just a small hole
letting in a sick wind
in small puffs
yo-ho hole
yo-ho hole
through which blow
a small sick wind
yo-ho hole
yo-ho-hole
puff puff
the sick wind blows
slupping stitches leading to so slight a hole
slipping in a sick wind
slippery sickly wind
yo-ho-hole
yo-ho-hole
across the threshole
a little sick wind
yo-ho-hole
yo-ho-hole
yo-ho
the sick wind blows
Obsessive, deadpan
moribund seasick etc.
This leaves out a lot of the repetions on this lyric sheet, and
I'm pretty sure a few sections are out of order compared with the
recorded song.
King Ink strolls into town
he sniffs around
King Ink kicks off his stink-boot
sand and soot and dust and dirt and
he's much bigger than you think
King Ink
King Ink, wake up, get up
Wake up, up, up, up, up, up
A bug crawls up the wall
King Ink feels like a bug
and he hates his rotten shell
Cha-cha-{10 cha's)
King Ink, get up, go forth
wake up-what's in that room
wake up- what's in that house?
Express thyself say something loudly
AAAAHHHH! What's in that room?
Sand and soot and dust and dirt
dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt dirt
King Ink feels like a bug
swimming in a soup-bowl
Oh yer! Yer! What a wonderful life
Fats Domino on the radio
This is True
Mister nothing said forever said
I can sing
Hit it! Make it a dead one
with words like
blood, soldier mother
O.K. O.k.
I want to sleep before the end
which is impolite
Hit It! Make it a dead one
If nothing crops up
I'll give you a ring
you can sing the end
o.k o.k.
then I could get
all the little animals out of my room
Hit it! With a broom
O.k O.k
Put them in a big white sack
no visitors came
hit it! With words like.....
Thou shalt not
The end
In our yard
How many chickens can we count
on our fingers and toes
on their toes
sitting on fathers hole
siting on his chest
crushing rocks of dirt
the earth is soft in our
yard yard
stones in my shoes
and feet
dragging them through museums
where
under glass
refridgerate
freeze
hands and feet
and knobbly knees
yard yard
The light from the window
falls on the floor
and after it breaks
I cut my feet
on the little bright pieces
I glow in the dark
But only when night falls
it's falling it's falling
it falls
My head is a night-club
club-clubbed to dull drums
beating to slow
to dance or to breathe or to dance
I insist that you cut in
I A La Flambe
i'm drinking i'm drinking
I'm drunk
First: I tried to kill it with a hammer
thought that I could lose
the head
sure! We've eaten off the silver
when even the food was against us
and then I tried to kill it in the bed
Second: I gagged it with a pillow
but awoke the nuns inside my head
they pound their goddy-goddy fists
from the inside-so from the outside
I got good: I stuck it. Dead
Thirdly: I put my lips upon it
And blew a frost across
its flat
I wrote upon its outside-surface
"Tonite we're on the outside surface"
Just you and me girl: You and me and the fat
Blundertown is drowned in no brainstorm
smothered in mud at the foot of the river
the color vague is slapped around stupid
blood dries to a very dull color
I'm drowning and there is no relief from
It's only 12,000 miles to heaven
but the car is broken and we're all well-spoken
I've met three people but I don't think they like me
and we all talk about the state of the weather
I'm drowning and there is no relief from
And everything I say are my own thoughts
Don't listen to my very dull brother
I'm drowning and there is no relief from
Kathy's kisses, They fall out of
her mouth onto the floor, collect dust
and sweep them under the door
* Door, Door Lyrics (The Boys Next Door) *
Transcribed by LJ/JL Meijer, boy next door, Peter Barton, and
maurice.
Table of Contents:
* The Nightwatchman
* Brave Exhibitions
* Friends Of My World
* The Voice
* Roman Roman
* Somebody's Watching
* After A Fashion
* Dive Position
* I Mistake Myself
* Shivers
* Riddle House
* Scatterbrain
* Enemy Of State
* Ho Ho
* Masturbation Generation
* Boy Hero
(Howard)
I've been contemplating suicide,
but it really doesn't suit my style,
so I think I'll just act bored instead
who can take (alt: And Contain) the blood I would've
shed?
She makes me feel so ugly (alt: so weary) (alt: so ill
at ease)
my heart is really on it's knees
but I keep a poker face so well
that even mother couldn't tell
But my baby's so vain
she is almost a mirror
and the sound of her name
sends a permanent shiver down my
SPINE
I keep her photograph against my heart
for in my life she plays a starring part
all alcohol and cigarettes
there is no room for cheap regrets
But my baby's so vain
she is almost a mirror
and the sound of her name
sends a permanent shiver down my
SPINE
She makes me feel so ugly
my heart is really on it's knees
but I keep a poker face so well
that even mother couldn't tell
But my baby's so vain
she is almost a mirror
and the sound of her name
sends a perennial shiver down my
SPIII-YI-YIIII-YI-YIIII-YI-YIYIYI-INE
(Howard)
The street is very wide
and I can't see across it
my house isn't clear to me
the cars move in between
Chorus And I say: Question
when is a door not a door???
and I say: "That's not right!
answer when it's a jar
The numbers soft as soap
and tend to bend in addition
they're much too wan for me
I'd prefer some consistancy
Chorus
The windows open wide
but I can't see out of it
the view is not very there
some-times I look for it
Chorus
Thanks to Mark Brown for most of the lyrics.
Table of Contents:
From Burning the Ice
* Truck Love
* Stow-a-way
* Dumb Europe
* Pleasure Is The Boss
From Headless Body in Topless Bar
* I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
From Sweat
* Sad Dark Eyes
--------------------
"Dumb Europe" by Die Haut with Nick Cave (from "Burning The Ice", 1983)
Music by Jochen Arbeit, Christoph Dreher, Rainer Lingk, & Thomas Wydler
Lyrics by Nick Cave
Transcribed by Greg O'Beirne (gobeirne@tartarus.uwa.edu.au)
Tempo: 80bpm
Rhythm: triplets (like "Da, d-Da, d-Da, d-Da, d-" etc...)
1 2 3 4
Intro: (incredibly distorted noisy guitar)
[Spoken above feedback - "Fucking cold europe..."]
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la la la la la.....
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la la la la la.....
Verse: (virtually the same as the intro, but
spaced so the words can fit underneath)
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This Euro - pean night on the brink
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The cafes & the bars still stink
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the mist is much too thick for seeing
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not thick e-nough for lean- -ing
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(leave this room in a)
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cata - - tonic crawl
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and if I die to-night don't fling me in
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some bleak teutonic hole
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six feet under with
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a snap frozen soul....
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and really we could all just
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die of shame...
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yeah...
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die of shame...
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Dumb Europe!
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Dumb Eur- -ope....
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a laaaaaaaa laaaaaaaa laaaaaaa laaaaaaa
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laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....
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Dumb Europe!
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Dumb Eur- -ope....
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a laaaaaaaa laaaaaaaa laaaaaaa laaaaaaa
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laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....
Lyrics:
1st Verse
On this European night out on the brink
The cafes and the bars still stink
The mist is much too thick for seeing
But not thick enough for leaning
I leave in a catatonic crawl
And if I die tonight don't fling me in
Some bleak teutonic hole
Six feet under with a snap-frozen soul
And really we could all just die of shame...
Yeah... die of shame...
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, la la la la la.
2nd Verse
On this Utopian night on the brink
Mama's face staring up at me from the bottom of the sink
Witness my trail of destruction
Just trying to leave this drinking place
My feet are magnetized for furniture
The floor's attracted to my face
And if I die tonight
Sell me as a prehistoric bone
Authentic junk-souvenir to Jap
To fob off on his friends back home
The money-dance...[mumble] I find it hard to cope with days like this etc...
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, la la la la la.
[The third verse is completely undecipherable, but sounds like:]
And tonight steps into my beer in my poor '61,
I swear that statue's read the moons
Or my planets are all wrong
And if I die tonight ship my body way back home
[mumble]
[mumble]
Pulling the drip right out of the arm
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, la la la la la.
4th Verse
On this European night on the brink
Your cafes, your beer-halls and your bars still stink
And if I die tonight send my body way back home
And if I die tonight send my body way back home
And if I die tonight send my body way back home
And if I die tonight and if I die tonight...
Dumb Europe
Dumb Europe
Dumb Europe
Dumb Europe
This recording is reasonably rare, and it's unlikely anyone you play the
song to will have heard the original anyway, so just use the lyrics
above, or the ones from King Ink, and play the song in whatever way
sounds best to you ;) Have fun ;)
All Albums
Thanks to Mark Brown for most of the
lyrics.
Table of Contents:
From Burning the Ice
* Truck Love
* Stow-a-way
* Dumb Europe
* Pleasure Is The Boss
From Headless Body in Topless Bar
* I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My
Condition Was In)
From Sweat
* Sad Dark Eyes
From Burning the Ice
Truck love! Right here!
Truck love! Right now!
Bewitched by pure power. That's truck love!
In the gully of your choice. Truck love!
Jam-up on a leaping tree. Head on! Head first!
And God came down and talked to me
And I dammn nearly wept.
Tears rolling down the dash! Tears rolling down the
dash!
We can't stop the monster rolling
We can't stop the monster rolling
We can't stop the monster rolling
We can't stop the monster rolling
Rise to power! Rise to power!
Rise to power! Rise to power!
You stare bright like gold
Eye-spot interference all across the fucking road.
Burn my eyes! Burn my eyes! Baybeeeeee!
My hands are shaking when I'm touching ya
My hands are shaking when I'm touching ya
They keep shaking when I ain't
They keep shaking when I ain't
Truck love! Truck love!
Pit-stop lovers!
Right now and the now is right!
This higway is done bent on killing us
Testing every nerve that we possess between us.
The face of Christ is leaping from the storm
The face of Christ is leaping from the storm
You tend to get religious on these runs.
Rise to power! Rise to power!
Rise to power! Rise to power!
Divine power has gone crawled into this tank
Every metal muscle flexed and puping at the crank.
Pumping at my axis. Rendering me sexless.
Mega-tons of muscle kicking dust across Texas.
Truck love! Out on the city limits
Drive straight into the eye of the next town we hit
Gun it once for the hillbillys
Just to make them shit.
Fuck love! This is truck love!
Fuck love! This is truck love!
The dolls on the grill are caked in bloody bug guts
The dolls on the grill are caked in bloody bug guts
Truck love! Truck love!
Rise to power! Rise to power!
The dolls on the grill are caked in bloody bug guts
The dolls on the grill are caked in bloody bug guts
Truck love! Truck love!
There are things burning in the desert
Rise to power! Rise to power!
There are things burning in the desert
Rise to power! Rise to power!
There are things burning in the desert
Hey hey I am the stow-a-way
Hey hey I am the stow-a-way
My girl turned blue as an iceberg do
And me I'm totally shipwrecked over her
Baby baby don't blow away
Hey hey I am the stow-a-way
I am the stow-a-way
This is your captain talking to ya
This is your captain talking to ya
This is your captain talking to ya
This is your captain talking to ya
Heartache
Hey hey I am the stow-a-way
I am the stow-a-way
My girl turned blue as an iceberg do
And me I'm totally shipwrecked over her
Hey baby don't blow away
Hey hey I am the stow-a-way
I am the stow-a-way
This your doctor talking to ya
This your doctor talking to ya
This your doctor talking to ya
This your doctor talking to ya
Heartache
On this European night out on the brink
The cafes and the bars still stink
The air is much too thick for seeing
But not thick enough for leaning
I leave in a catatonic crawl
And if I die tonight then throw me in
Some bleak teutonic hole
Six feet under with a snap-frozen soul
And really we could all just die of shame
And really we could all just die of shame
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe.
Oh the Utopian night on the brink
Mama's face staring up at me from the bottom of the
sink
Witness my trail of destruction
Trying to leave this drinking place
My feet are magnetised for furniture
The floor's attracted to my face
And if I die tonight
Sell me as some prehistoric bone
A lump of junk-souvenier for Jap
To fob off on his friends back home
The money dance....
I find it hard to cope with days like this. Pass the
bottle etcetera
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe.
On this European night out on the brink
The cafes and the bars still stink
The air is much too thick for seeing
But not thick enough for leaning
I leave in a catatonic crawl
And if I die tonight then throw me in
Some bleak teutonic hole
Six feet under with a snap-frozen soul
And really we could all just die of shame
And really we could all just die of shame
Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe, Dumb Europe.
They're working us like dogs around here
'Cause pleasure is the boss
And I'm the happiest slave alive round here
'Cause pleasure is the boss
And nothing is safe that don't stand still
If it's O.K. with the boss
I'm gunna walk right up and take it yeah
If it's O.K. with the boss
Walk
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
What's O.K. with the boss is O.K. with me
From Headless Body in Topless Bar
I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
I woke up this morning the sun don't shine in
I found my broken mind in a brown paper bag but then
I tred on a cloud I fell eight miles high
Told my mind I'm gonna ...... sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition
was in
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and I followed it
in
I met myself crawling out now, as I came crawling in
Then I woke up so tired I knew I'd never unwind
I saw so much, man it broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition
was in
Somebody painted April fool in big black letters on a
dead end sign
I had my foot on the gas when I left the road and blew
out my mind
I made miles out of Memphis and I got no spare
I made miles straight up downtown where
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition
was in
[As sung by Mick Harvey; Nick's live versions deviate from this.]
I look at you in your sad dark eyes
And your gypsy face with your spanish grace
With your words like rhymes and your voice like chimes
Darling, I want to kiss your burning mouth
Your sad dark eys and your ghostlike soul
Darling baby say that you'll be mine
Put your ring on my finger
And comb your long red hair
Put on your sad eyes
And tell me that you care
That you'll be mine, you'll be mine
Until the end of time
* Soundtrack Contributions Chords *
Tower Of Song and 500 Miles chords transcribed by Blake
Table of Contents:
From Tribute Albums:
* Tower Of Song (L. Cohen)
* Helpless (N. Young)
* Mack The Knife (K. Wiel)
Only Performed Live
(some with limited offical releases):
* I Put A Spell On You (S.J. Hawkins)
* Rye Whiskey
* Plain Gold Ring
* Oh, Happy Day (Edwin R. Hawkins)
With Current 93:
* All The Pretty Little Horsies (Cave/Traditional)
* PATRIPASSIAN (Cave)
Radio Sessions, Extremely Limted Releases, and Bootlegs:
* God's Hotel (Cave)
* What Can I Give You? (Cave)
* 500 Miles (H. West) (KATP out-take)
***************************************************
Leonard Cohen
[G]Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play
And I'm[C] crazy for love but I'm not coming on [G]
I'm just[D] paying my rent every[C]day
In the Tower of So[G]ng
I said to Hank Williams: How lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet.
But I h[C]ear him coughing all night lon[G]g
A hund[D]red floors above me [C]
In the Tower of So[G]ng
I was born like this, I had no choice.
I was born with the gift of a golden voice.
And twe[C]nty-seven angels from the Great beyon[G]d
They ti[D]ed me to this table right her[C]e
In the Tower of Son[G]g
So you can stick your little pins in that voodoo doll
I'm very sorry, baby, doesn't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
They don't let a woman kill you, not
In the Tower of Song
Now you can say that I've grown bitter, but of this you may be sure:
The rich have got their channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgment coming But I may be wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices
In the Tower of Song
[Em]I see you standing on the other [D]side
[Em]I don't know how the river [D]got so wide
I lo[C]ved you, baby, way back when[G]
[Em]And all the bridges are burning that we[D] might have crossed
[Em]But I feel so close to everythi[D]ng that we lost
We'll[C] never have to lose it agai[D]n
I[G] bid you farewell, I don't know when I'll be back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But You'll be h[C]earing from me, baby. Long after I'm [G]gone
I'll be s[D]peaking to you sweetly from a w[C]indow
In the Tower [G]of Song
Table of Contents
***************************************************
I Put A Spell On You
I put a (A)spell on you
(D)cause you're (A)mine
Table of Contents
***************************************************
500 Miles
If you (F#)miss the train I'm (Bb)on
Then you (G#)know that I'll be (E)gone
Lord I'm (G#)500 miles (B)away from (C#)home
For the rest of the song, pretty much follow the same
pattern, I could be missing a chord between '500 miles'
and 'away', but it's pretty much there.
Table of Contents
***************************************************
title
Chords!!!
Table of Contents
[----**----]
Return to the Lyrics and Chords page.
The following are lyrics to Nick Cave songs
that have not been included on common Album
and Single releases or on soundtracks. This
page was developed from Maurice's document
of "Unpublished Lyrics to Nick Cave Songs".
From that document:
Many thanks to Paul Humphrey,
Robert Schmitz and Carmen Priebe!
"......" or (?) means we don't
know that part. Corrections
welcome!
Thanks too to Mark Brown for some of the
Die Haut lyrics.
Table of Contents:
From Tribute Albums:
* Tower Of Song (L. Cohen)
* Helpless (N. Young)
* Mack The Knife (K. Wiel)
Only Performed Live
(some with limited offical releases):
* I Put A Spell On You (S.J. Hawkins)
* Rye Whiskey
* Plain Gold Ring
* Oh, Happy Day (Edwin R. Hawkins)
* Viviane
With Barry Adamson:
* The Sweetest Embrace
With Current 93:
* All The Pretty Little Horsies
(Cave/Traditional)
* PATRIPASSIAN (Cave)
Radio Sessions, Extremely Limted Releases,
and Bootlegs:
* God's Hotel (Cave)
* What Can I Give You? (Cave)
* 500 Miles (H. West) (KATP out-take)
Tribute Albums:
Tower Of Song
From I'm Your Fan, a Leonard Cohen tribute album
Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places I used to play
And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on
I'm paying my rent everyday in the Tower of Song
I said to Leonard Cohen: How lonely does it get?
Leonard Cohen hasn't answered me yet
But I can hear him coughing all night long,
A million floors above me in the Tower of Song
I was born like this, I had no choice
I was born like this, with a golden voice
Twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond,
Well they tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song
You can stick your needles in a voodoo doll
I'm sorry baby, but it don't look like me at all
I'm standing by the window where the light is strong
They don't let a woman kill you in the Tower of Song
I've grown bitter, bitter, of this you may be sure:
The rich, the rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement but it won't be long, but I may be
wrong
You see, you hear these funny voices in the Tower of Song - oh
yeah -
The guitar, the bass, the drums, so nice every hour in the Tower
of Song
I see you standing on the other side
I don't know how the river got so wide
But I loved you, baby, way back when
All the bridges are burning that we might have crossed,
But I feel so close to everything that we lost
But I'll never have to lose you again, Tower of Song
I bid you farewell, I don't know when I'm back
They're moving us tomorrow to that tower down the track
But you'll be hearing from me, baby, long after I'm gone
I'm speaking to you sweetly from a window in the Tower of Song
Now you can say that I've grown bitter, of this you can be sure:
The rich have got channels in the bedrooms of the poor
And there's a mighty judgement but it won't take long, I may be
wrong
Table of Contents
Only Performed Live
(some with limited offical releases):
I Put A Spell On You
From Department of Enjoyment, NME compilation cassette; available on some
bootlegs.
I put a spell on you, 'cause you're mine
You'd better stop those things that you're doin'
Oh, honey, I ain't lyin', no
Wow, you better quit it, your messin' around
You better quit it, your foolin' around
I put a spell on you, wow, cause you're mine
It serves you right to suffer
It serves you right to be alone
Oh, you forever live the day I done packed and gone (?)
Oh you better kick it before it kicks you
Oh, you better quit it, it's true
I put a spell on you, wow, cause you're mine, mine, mine
You better quit it, your foolin' around
You better quit it, kick it, .... , oh you're messin' around
I put a spell on you, you, cause you're mine
Table of Contents
Rye Whiskey
Available on French promo CD, Good Songs
A traditional version is also available.
Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, I know you most of all
You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold
And Whiskey, you villain, you've been my down-fall
You've cuffed and you've kicked me but I loved you of old
Oh Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Whiskey I cried
If I don't get rye Whiskey I surely will die
Well I go yonder mountain and build me a still
And I send you a gallon for a five dollar bill
Well it's beefcake when I'm hungry, Whiskey when I'm dry
And it's greenbacks when I'm hard off and hell when I die
If the sea were made of Whiskey and I was a duck
I'd swim to the bottom and never come up
Oh, but the sea ain't made of Whiskey and I ain't a duck
So I play Jack Of Diamonds and trust on my luck
Table of Contents
Plain Gold Ring
From Live Seeds
Plain gold ring on her finger she wore
It was where everyone could see
It belonged to someone, but not me
On her hand she wore a plain gold ring
Plain gold ring's got a story to tell
It was one that I knew very well
In my heart it will never be spring
Long as she wears that plain gold ring
When night time comes calling on me
I know why I will never be free
I can't stop these teardrops of mine, oh no
I'm gonna love her till the end of time
Plain gold ring's got but one thing to say
I'm gonna love her till my dying day
In my heart it will never be spring
Long as she wears that plain gold ring
Table of Contents
Oh, Happy Day
Oh happy day, oh happy day
When Jesus washed, oh when He washed
When my Jesus washed, He washed my sins away
Oh happy day
He taught me how to walk, fight and pray, fight and pray
And in rejoicing, in rejoicing every, every day, every day.
Oh happy day, oh happy day;
When my Jesus washed, oh when He washed
When my Jesus washed all the sins away
Oh happy day, yeah.
You see He taught me how to watch, fight and pray fight and pray
And in rejoicing, in rejoicing every day, every day
Oh happy, happy day, oh happy, happy day
Oh it felt so good when Jesus, when Jesus washed,
When my Jesus washed my sins away.
Table of Contents
Viviane
These lyrics were taken from an edition of The Witness, the Official fan
newsletter.
Viviane
I will love you till the last nail has been driven in
Viviane
Till we disappear hand in hand into oblivian (sic)
Oh Viviane
I will love you until the void delivers us from this world we're
living in
Oh oh Viviane
I love you until the ghost of your smile grows faint and
withering
Viviane
You are my heroin, my aspirin, my insulin
Viviane
The winds of change are blowing and I am shivering....
(...the rest (if indeed there is any more) is obscured.)
Table of Contents
With Barry Adamson:
The Sweetest Embrace
From the album Oedipus Schmoedipus by Barry Adamson
Our time is done my love
We've laid it all to waste
One thousand moonlit kisses
can't sweeten this bitter taste
My desire for you is endless
and I'll love you 'till we fall
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all
To think we can find happiness
hidden in a kiss
Ah, to think we can find happiness
that's the greatest mistake there is
There is nothing left to cling to babe
There is nothing left to soil
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all
Ooohhh where did it begin
When all we did was lose
There's nothin' left to win
So lay your weapons down
they serve no purpose in your hands
And if you wanna hold me
then go ahead and hold me
I won't upset your plans
If it's revenge you want
then take it babe
Or you can walk right out the door
I just don't want you anymore
And that's the sweetest embrace of all
Ooohhh where did it begin
When all we did was lose
There's nothin' left to win
It's over babe
And it really is a shame
We are losers you and me babe
In a rigged and crooked game
My desire for you is endless
And I love you most of all
I just don't want you no more
and that's the sweetest embrace of all
Table of Contents
With Current 93:
All The Pretty Little Horsies
From the Current '93 album All The Pretty Horsies
Hush-a-bye
Don't You cry
Go to sleepy little baby
Go to sleepy little baby
When You wake
You shall have
All the pretty little horsies
All the pretty little horsies
Blacks and bays
Dapples and greys
All the pretty little horsies
Way down yonder
In the meadow
Lies a poor little lamby
Bees and butterflies
Flitting round his eyes
Poor little thing is crying
"Mammy"
Go to sleep
Don't you cry
Rest Your head upon the clover
Rest Your head upon the clover
In Your dreams
You shall ride
While Your Mammy's watching over
Blacks and bays
Dapples and greys
All the pretty little horsies
All the pretty little horsies
All the pretty little horsies
All the pretty little horsies
Table of Contents
PATRIPASSIAN
From the Current '93 album All the Pretty Horsies
The rivers of Babylon flow, and fall, and carry
away...Jesus is alone on earth, not merely with no
one to feel and share His agony, but with no one
even to know of it. Heaven and He are the only ones
to know.
Jesus is in a garden, not of delight, like the first
Adam, who fell and took with him all
mankind, but of agony, where He has saved
Himself and all mankind
He suffers this anguish and abandonment in the
horror of the night.
Jesus will be in agony until the end of the world.
There must be no resting in the meantime...
Table of Contents
Radio Sessions, Extremely Limted Releases, and Bootlegs:
God's Hotel
Available on the Rare On Air benefit CD. An audio sample is available
Everybody got a room
Everybody got a room
Everybody got a room
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a room.
Well you'll never see a sign hanging on the door
Sayin 'No vacancies anymore'.
Everybody got wings
Everybody got wings
Everybody got wings
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got wings.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the door
Sayin 'At no time may both feet leave the floor'
Everybody got a harp
Everybody got a harp
Everybody got a harp
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a harp.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the wall
Sayin 'No harps allowed in the hotel at all'.
Everybody got a cloud
Everybody got a cloud
Everybody got a cloud
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got a cloud.
You'll never see a sign hanging on the wall
Sayin 'Smoking and drinking will be thy downfall'.
Everybody hold a hand
Everybody hold a hand
Everybody hold a hand
In God's Hotel.
Everybody hold a hand.
You'll never see a sign hung up above your door
'No visitors allowed in rooms, By law!'
Everybody's halo shines
Everybody's halo shines
Everybody's halo shines
In God's Hotel.
Everybody's halo lookin' fine.
You won't see a sign staring at you from the wall
Sayin 'Lights out! No burnin the midnight oil!'
Everybody got credit
Everybody got credit
Everybody got credit
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got good credit.
You'll never see a sign stuck on the cash-box drawer
Sayin 'Credit tommorow!!' or 'Want credit?!? Haw, haw haw!!'
Everybody is blind
Everybody is blind
Everybody is blind
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is blind.
You'll never see a sign on the front door
'No red skins. No Blacks. And that means you, baw!'
Everybody is deaf
Everybody is deaf
Everybody is deaf
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is deaf.
You'll never find a sign peeling off the bar-room wall
'Though shalt not blaspheme, cuss, holler or bawl'.
Everybody is dumb
Everybody is dumb
Everybody is dumb
In God's Hotel.
Everybody is dumb.
So you'll never see on the visiting-room wall
'Though shalt not blaspheme, cuss, holler or bawl'.
Everybody got Heaven
Everybody got Heaven
Everybody got Heaven
In God's Hotel.
Everybody got Heaven.
So you'll never see scribbled on the bathroom wall
'Let Rosy get ya Heaven, dial 686-844!'
Table of Contents
500 Miles
An audio sample is available
If you miss the train I'm on
Then you know that I'll be gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred
miles
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles
Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three, Lord I'm four
Lord I'm 500 miles away from home
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles,
Lord I'm 500 miles away from home
Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go-a-home this-a-way
This-a-way, this-a-way, this-a-way, this-a-way,
Lord I can't go-a-home this-a-way
Table of Contents
What Can I Give You?
From a Frech promo CD given away with Henry's Dream.
All my life I failed to see
One good thing standing in front of me
And the planets gravitate around you
And the stars, the stars surround you
And the angels in heaven adore you
And the saints, the saints all stand and applaud you
What can I give you?
What can I give you in return?
The shadow came creeping, a criminal
That you chased, babe, from my life
And sometimes when I'm sleeping I see him shuffle against the
night
Oh, he's waiting, yeah he's waiting to return
And each step I take moves me one step below you
And you must do in order to console me
Help me, help me, help me, baby, reach down and collect me
What can I give you?
What can I give you in return?
Galaxies collide; they shower down around you
And I searched, I stumbled and then I found you
In your robe, in your crown, reaching low, babe
Reaching low down to the ground
What can I give you?
What can I give you in return?
Table of Contents
[----**----]
Return to the Lyrics and Chords page.
* Soundtrack Contributions Chords *
Faraway, So Close chords transcribed by NP Mack the Knife and
Time Jesum... chords transcribed by Black
Table of Contents:
* Faraway, So Close
* Mack The Knife
* Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum
***************************************************
C/a
C a C
Empty out your pockets toss the lot upon the floor
all those treasures my friends...
F G
so kiss close all your wounds and call living life a day
C
for the planets...
F G F G C
so faraway, so faraway and yet so close
C6 Dm7
See the shark with teeth like razors
Dm G7 C6
And he wears them in his face
C9 C Dm7
And Macheath has got a knife
C6
But not in such an obvious place
Now see the shark, how red his fins are
As he slashes at his prey
Mack the Knife wears fancy gloves
Which gives a minimum away
Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum
This is actually violin led, but if you were to play it on the guitar
here's how it would be. This is just a basic idea, there is a lot more
going on in this song.
Rhythm guitar over the violin is just-- F# --- B changing to B on the
high points of the riff
Riff 1.
G-----6--6-4-2-4-6--6-----7-7-6-4-4---7-6-4-2-4
D---4-------------------------------------------------
You play this a couple of times then-
Riff 2
E---9---9-7-5-7-9-9----10-10-9-7-7----10-9-7-5-7
B-7-----------------------------------------------------
Then you play this as necessary making
slight alterations here and there
F B
We were called to the forest, and we went down.
F
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent,
F
We were searching for the secrets of the universe,
B
we rounded up demons and forced them
F
to tell us what it all meant.
Riff 2 repeat as necessary
Verse same as first
Riff 2 again but end with
E---15-15-14-12-14-
Verse
Riff 2
outro
Riff 3
E--5-7-9-10-12-14-15-17с repeat a few times
Riff 4
E--17-15-14-15-14-12-10-9-10-9-10-9-7-5
* Lyrics From Film and TV *
Soundtrack Contributions
The following are lyrics to Nick Cave songs
that have been contributed to soundtracks
of various films and a television series.
This page was developed from Maurice's
document of "Unpublished Lyrics to Nick
Cave Songs". From that document:
Many thanks to Paul Humphrey,
Robert Schmitz and Carmen Priebe!
Table of Contents:
* Mojo (Cave)
Used in Mojo
* The Big Hurt (Wayne Shanklin)
Used in Mojo
* Mack The Knife (Weill)
Used in September Songs: The Music of
Kurt Weill
* There Is A Light (Cave)
Used in Batman Forever
* Faraway, So Close! (Cave)
Used in In weiter Ferne, so nah! (aka
Faraway, So Close!)
* Mama's Boy
Used in Johnny Suede
* (I'll Love You) Till the End of the
World (Cave)
Used in Bis ans Ende der Welt (aka
Until the End of the World)
Songs used in Television Show soundtracks:
* Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non
Riverentum (Cave)
Used in Songs in the Key of X: The
X-Files Soundtrack
* Red Right Hand
Used in Songs in the Key of X: The
X-Files Soundtrack.
Other songs used in films:
* Christina the Astonishing
Used in Jonas in the Desert
* From Her To Eternity
Used in Der Himmel эber Berlin (aka
Wings of Desire), and The Freshman
* Red Right Hand
Used in Box Of Moonlight, Scream, and
Dumb and Dumber. A remixed version was
used in Scream 2
* Cassiel's Song
Used in In weiter Ferne, so nah! (aka
Faraway, So Close!)
* Lament
Used in Gas Food Lodging
Nick performed this for the Italian film Mojo, and it is
available on a CD called Soho.
They call him Joe The Dragon
He's on the water wagon
He's got that look of mourning and concentration on his
face
Carries a 38 special
A six inch barrel
The saddest damn man in the entire human race
Mojo (4x)
Joe's mind is full of motors(?)
He is always taking photos
Of the remains of his beserk little twists
Yes ....(?) polaroids
Of his little golden boys
18 carat corpses with wired wrists
Mojo (4x)
Blood thicker than water will flow
The fire will eat the streets of old Soho
Daddy's out the back with little Joe
With his vaseline and his violin and bow -
Mojo
Down on Compton(?) Road
Joe ain't never going home
Till he finds what he is searching for
Well mad Mathildas in his jacket
They crank and make him record(?)
As he does and make his funny little laugh and dance
upon your floor
Mojo (repeat)
Nick performed this for the Italian film Mojo, along with Gallon
Drunk and it is available on a CD called Soho.
Now it begins, now that you're gone
Needles and pins, twilight till dawn
Watching that clock till you return
And lighting that torch and watching it burn
Now it begins, day after day
This is my life ticking away
Waiting to hear footsteps that say:
Love will appear and this time will stay
Each time you go
I try to pretend
It's over at last
This time the big hurt will end
Now it begins, now that you're gone
Needles and pins, twilight till dawn
So if you don't come back again
I wonder when, oh when will it end?
The big hurt (repeat)
Nick covered this in a segment in September Songs: A Tribute to
Kurt Weill
See the shark with teeth like razors
And he wears them in his face
And Macheath has got a knife
But not in such an obvious place
Now see the shark, how red his fins are
As he slashes at his prey
Mack the Knife wears fancy gloves
Which gives a minimum away
By the Thames' turbid waters
Men abruptly tumble down
Well is it plague, or is it cholera
Or because Macky's in town?
And the child bride, in her nighty
Whose assailant's still at large
Violated in her slumbers
Macky how much did you charge?
In the ghastly fire in Soho
Seven children had a go
In the crowd stands Mack the Knife
But he isn't asked and he don't know
In the crowd stands Mack The Knife
But he ain't asked and he don't know
From the Batman Forever soundtrack. An audio sample is available.
Hey there sugar where ya gunna go?
I'm going downtown Daddy-O
What ya gunna do when you get there, girl?
I'm gunna get messed up in a God-Shaped Hole
Hey Mr Hophead, what ya gunna do?
I'm going downtown for some bad ju-ju
Ya going downtown too, Mr. Gigolo?
Damn right I am, Daddy-O...
There is a light thay shines over this city tonight
There is a light that shines over this city tonight
Let it shine
O Mr High Roller where ya gunna go?
Where the real high-rollin rollers roll real dough
Hey Mr Killer Man what ya gunna do?
Me and Mr Death are going downtown too
Ain't there one God Fearing citizen about?
They're all holed up and they ain't comin' out
What about Mr. Preacher to forgive us our sins?
Not that carrion crow with blood on his chin
And Mr. Politician can't he lend a hand?
He's too busy sucking on the guts of this town
And what about God and this Armageddon?
He's all blissed out, man, up in Heaven
Ain't there nowhere to run, ain't there nowhere to go?
(repeat line 3 more times)
Yeah, look to the sky, Daddy-O
There is a light that shines over this city tonight
There is a light that shines over this city tonight
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
What are the little kids gunna do, man?
The little kids are all standing around
What are the kids doing, do you know?
They are looking to the Sky, Daddy-O.
Time Jesum Transeuntum Et Non Riverentum
Hidden track on the X-Files TV series soundtrack. An audio sample
is available.
We were called to the forest,
and we went down.
A wind wind blew warm and eloquent,
We were searching for the secrets of the universe,
we rounded up demons and forced them
to tell us what it all meant.
We tied them to trees,
and broke them down, one by one.
On a scrap of paper they wrote these words:
(And as we read them, the sun broke,
through the trees.)
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he will not return."
Then we headed back to our world,
and left the forest behind,
our hearts singing with all the knowledge of love.
But somewhere, somehow, we lost the message,
along the way,
and when we got home, we bought ourselves a house.
And we bought a car that we did not use,
And we bought a cage,and two singing birds.
And at night we'd sit and listen to the canary song.
For we'd both run right out of words.
Now the stars they are all angled wrong,
and the sun and the moon refuse to burn.
But I remember a message,
in a demon's hand,
"Dread the passage of Jesus, for he does not return."
...he does not return
...he does not return
From: www.webstation.com/mahler/
From the soundtrack to th film of the same name.
Empty out your pockets, toss the lot upon the floor.
All those treasures, my friend,
you don't need them anymore.
Your days are all through dying,
they gave all their ghosts away,
so kiss close all your wounds and call living life a
day.
For the planets gravitate around you,
and the stars shower down around you,
and the angels in heaven adore you,
and the saints all stand and applaud you.
so faraway,
so faraway and yet so close.
Say farewell to the passing of the years,
though all your sweet goodbyes will fall upon deaf
ears.
Kiss so softly the mouths of the ones you love,
beneath the September moon and the heavens above.
And the world will turn without you,
and history will soon forget about you,
but the heavens they will reward you,
and the saints will be there to escort you.
So faraway,
so faraway and yet so close.
Do not grieve at the passing of mortality,
for life's but a thing of terrible gravity.
And the planets gravitate around you,
and the stars shall dance about you,
and the angels in heaven adore you,
and the saints all stand and applaud you.
So faraway,
so faraway and yet so close.
Thanks to Patrick Breen and HPEllison
Used in Johnny Suede
I was born in a motel room
the night my Daddy lost his job
Just after one, he pulled a gun
and blew the brains out of some poor slob
They call me mamma...
They call me mamma...
They call me mamma's boy
But I don't care
I'll be a mamma...
I'll be a mamma...
I'll be a mamma's boy
since Daddy got...the electric chair.
(I'll Love You) Till the End of the World
From the soundtrack of Until the End of the World. An audio
sample is available.
It was a miracle I even got outta Longwood alive,
This town fulla 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 pourin' outta the dance halls,
Starin' up at the smoke and the flames,
And the blind pencil seller wavin' his stick,
Shoutin' for his dog that lay dead on the side of the
road,
And me, if you can believe this, at the wheel of the
car
Closin my eyes and actually prayin',
Not to God above, but to you, sayin',
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 her hair white as snow, and her pale blue eyes,
Sayin "I gotta go, I gotta go, the bomb and 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
And leapin' under my wheels as I careered outta
Longwood on my way to you,
Waitin 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 prancin' 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,
Waitin 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
* Traditional Song Lyrics *
Many of Nick's songs have their basis in traditional songs.
Listed here are the traditional lyrics to songs you may have
thought were Nick's creations. Most of these are originally
available at the Digital Tradition Folk Song Database at
http://www.deltablues.com Thanks to Erik for the info!
Table of Contents:
* Rye Whiskey
* Black Betty
* Young Hunting - Traditional version of Henry Lee
* Down in a Willow Garden - Traditional version of The Willow
Garden
* Katy Cruel - Traditional version of When I First Came To
Town
* Oxford Tragedy - Traditional version of Knoxville Girl
* How Long, How Long Blues - Traditional song similar to The
Train Song
* Mister Frog Went A-Courting - Traditional version of King
Kong Kittchee Ki-Mi-O
* Banks of the Roses - Traditional song similar to Where the
Wild Roses Grow
* All The Pretty Little Horsies - Traditional song that Nick
used for the track he wrote on the Current 93 album All The
Pretty Little Horses
* Stagalee - Three tradional versions of the harsh track on
Murder Ballads
* Peace In the Valley - Lyrics by T. Dorsey (as sung by J.
Cash on "At Folsom Prison and San Quentin"). This is a
likely inspiration for Nick's New Morning
* Wade In The Water - Traditional lyrics of a song Nick has
used live.
* Oh, Happy Day - Lyrics of a song Nick has used live.
* Cindy - Lyrics of a song Nick has used live.
* Love Henry - Original version of Henry Lee
* Tupelo Blues - A likely inspiration for Nick's Tupelo
* I Rowed a Little Boat - A song similar to My Little Boat Is
Empty
Nick's version is also available.
I'll eat when I'm hungry,
I'll drink when l'm dry,
If the hard times don't kill me,
I'll lay down and die.
Rye whisky, rye whisky,
Rye whisky, I cry,
If you don't give me rye whisky,
I surely will die.
I'll tune up my fiddle,
And I'll rosin my bow,
I'll make myself welcome,
Wherever I go.
Beefsteak when I'm hungry,
Red liquor when I'm dry,
Greenbacks when I'm hard up,
And religion when I die.
They say I drink whisky,
My money's my own;
All them that don't like me,
Can leave me alone.
Sometimes I drink whisky,
Sometimes I drink rum,
Sometimes I drink brandy,
At other times none.
But if I get boozy,
My whisky's my own,
And them that don't like me,
Can leave me alone.
Jack o' diamonds, jack o' diamonds,
I know you of old,
You've robbed my poor pockets
Of silver and gold.
Oh, whisky, you villain,
You've been my downfall,
You've kicked me, you've cuffed me,
But I love you for all.
If the ocean was whisky,
And I was a duck,
I'd dive to the bottom
To get one sweet suck.
But the ocean ain't whisky
And I ain't a duck,
So we'll round up the cattle
And then we'll get drunk.
My foot's in my stirrup,
My bridle's in my hand,
l'm leaving sweet Lillie,
The fairest in the land.
Her parents don't like me,
They say l'm too poor;
They say I'm unworthy
To enter her door.
Sweet milk when l'm hungry,
Rye whisky when l'm dry,
If a tree don't fall on me,
I'll live till I die.
I'll buy my own whisky,
I'll make my own stew,
If I get drunk, madam,
It's nothing to you.
I'll drink my own whisky,
I'll drink my own wine,
Some ten thousand bottles
I've killed in my time.
I've no wife to quarrel
No babies to bawl;
The best way of living
Is no wife at all.
Way up on Clinch Mountain
I wander alone,
l'm as drunk as the devil,
Oh, let me alone.
You may boast of your knowledge
An' brag of your sense,
'Twill all be forgotten
A hundred years hence.
(Negro Variant)
In my little log cabin,
Ever since I been born,
Dere ain't been no nothin'
'Cept dat hard salt, parched corn.
But I know whar's a henhouse,
De turkey he charve;
An, if ol' Massa don' kill me
I cain't never starve.
(Variant chorus)
Rye whisky, rye whisky,
You're no friend to me;
You killed my poor daddy,
Goddamn you, try me.
From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax
Note: One of the more exhaustive texts.
Nick's version is also available.
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bam-ba-lamb,
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bamhalamb,
Black Betty had a baby,
Bambalamb,
Black Betty had a baby,
Bambalamb.
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bam-ba-lamb,
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bam-ba-lamb,
It de cap'n's baby,
Bam-ba-lamb,
It de cap'n's baby,
Bam-ba-lamb.
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bambalamb,
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bambalamb,
But she didn' feed de baby,
Bambalamb,
But she didn' feed de baby,
Bambalamb.
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bamhalamb,
Oh, Lawd, Black Betty,
Bambalamb,
Black Betty, where'd you come from?
Bambalamb,
Black Betty, where'd you come from?
Bambalamb.
From American Ballads and Folk Songs, Lomax
Note: Black Betty was the whip used in some southern
prisons.
Traditional version of Henry Lee. Nick's version is also
available.
It happened on one evening late,
As the maid was going to bed,
She heard a sound, a beautiful sound,
That made her heart feel glad.
She thought it was her brother John,
Returning from the cane;
But who should it be but Lord Henry,
Just from his wild hunting.
"Get down, get down, Lord Henry,
And stay all night with me;
For the very best lodging in Mulveren Town,
The best I'll give to thee."
"I won't get down, I shan't get down,
To stay all night with you;
For there's a prettier girl in the merry green lands,
That I love much better than you."
As he leaned o'er his milk-white steed
And kisses gave her three,
She held up a knife in her right hand
And pierced him heartily.
"O live, O live, Lord Henry,
Half an hour or more;
For the very best doctors in Mulveren Town,
You'll soon be in their care."
"O live, O live, how can I live,
How can I live you see,
When l can feel my own heart's blood,
Come trinkling o'er my knee?"
She called her waiting maids unto her
To view his body so fair,
Saying, "Of all this finery you see around here,
The finest you shall wear."
Some took him by his curly locks,
Some by his hands and feet,
And threw him in the cold, dark well,
Which was both cold and deep
"Lie there, lie there, Lord Henry,
Till the flesh rots off your bones!
That prettier girl in the merry green lands,
Shall mourn for your return."
There was a pretty parrot bird,
Sitting high upon a limb,
Saying, "You murdered Lord Henry,
And in the well threw him."
"Come down, come down, my pretty parrot bird,
And sit on my right knee;
Your cage shall be the finest gold,
And the door of ivory."
"I won't come down, I shan't come down,
To sit on your right knee;
For you have murdered Lord Henry,
And soon you'd murder me"
"I wish I had my bended bow,
My arrow and my string;
I'd pierce a dart so close your heart,
Those notes no more you'd sing."
"O if you had your bended bow,
Your arrow and your string,
I'd take my flight to the merry green lands
And tell what I'd seen."
Printed in Folk-songs of the South
Traditional version of The Willow Garden. Nick's version is also
available.
Down in a willow garden
Where me and my love did meet,
'Twas there we sat a courting
My love dropped off to sleep.
I had a bottle of the Burglar's wine
Which my true love did not know,
And so I poisoned that dear little girl
Down under the bank below.
I stobbed her with a dagger,
Which was a bloody knife,
I threw her in the river,
Which was a dreadful sight.
My father often told me
That money would set me free,
If I would murder that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly.
And now he sits in his own cottage door,
a wiping his weeping eye,
And now he waits for his own dear son,
Upon the scaffold high.
My race is run beneath the sun,
Lo, hell's now waiting for me,
For I have murdered that dear little girl
Whose name was Rose Connelly.
From Folk Song USA, Lomax
Note: Tune is variant on Rosin the Beau
Traditional version of When I First Came To Town. Nick's version
is also available.
When I first came to town
They called me the roving jewel
Now they've changed their tune
They call me Katy Cruel
Oh diddle day, oh diddle lie o day
Oh that I was where I would be
Then I would be where I am not
Here I am where I must be
Go where I would, I can not
Oh diddle day, oh diddle lie o day
When I first came to town
They brought me the bottles plenty
Now they've changed their tune
They bring me the bottles empty
Oh diddle day, oh diddle lie o day
CHORUS
I know who I love
And I know who does love me
I know where I'm going
And I know whose going with me
Oh diddle day, oh diddle lie o day
CHORUS
Down the road I go
And through the boggy mire
Straight way cross the field
And to my heart's desire
Oh, diddle day, oh, diddle lie o day
CHORUS
Traditional version of Knoxville Girl. Nick's version is also
available.
From English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Sharp.
Collected from Mary Wilson and Mrs. Townley, Kentucky, 1917
Once there was a little tailor boy
About sixteen years of age;
My father hired me to a miller
That I might learn the trade.
I fell in love with a Knoxville girl,
Her name was Flora Dean.
Her rosy cheeks, her curly hair,
I really did admire.
Her father he persuaded me
To take Flora for a wife;
The devil he persuaded me
To take Flora's life.
Up stepped her mother so bold and gay,
So boldly she did stand;
Johnny dear, go marry her
And take her off my hands.
I went unto her father's house
About nine o'clock at night,
A-asking her to take a walk
To do some prively talk.
We had not got so very far
Till looking around and around,
He stooping down picked up a stick
And knocks little Flora down.
She fell upon her bended knees,
For mercy she did cry:
O Johnny dear, don't murder me,
For I'm not fit to die.
I took her by her lily-white hands
A-slung her around and around;
I drug her off to the river-side,
And plunged her in to drown.
I returned back to my miller's house
About nine o'clock at night,
But little did my miller know
What I had been about.
The miller turned around and about,
Said:" Johnny, what blooded your clothes?"
Me being so apt to take a hint:
By bleeding at the nose.
About nine or ten days after that,
Little Flora she was found
A-floating down by her father's house
Who lived in Knoxville town.
Leroy Carr
A traditional song which was a likely inspiration for The Train
Song.
How long, how long, has that evenin' train been gone?
How long, how long, baby how long.
Heard the whistle blowin', couldn't see the train
Way down in my heart I had an achin' pain.
How long, How long, how long.
If I could holler like a mountain jack
I'd go up on the mountain and call my baby back.
I went up on the mountain, looked as far as I could see
The man had my woman and the blues had poor me.
I can see the green grass growin' on the hill
But I ain't seen the green grass on a dollar bill.
I'm goin' down to Georgia, been up in Tennessee
So look me over baby, last you'll see of me.
The brook runs into the river, river runs into the sea
If I don't run into my baby, a train is goin' to run
into me.
Mister Frog Went A-Courting
A traditional song which was a likely insiration for King Kong
Kittchee Ki-Mi-O.
Mister frog went a-courting and he did ride
Uh-hmm, Uh-hmm
Mister frog went a-courting and he did ride
A sword and pistol by his side
Uh-hmm, Uh-hmm.
He went down to Missy Mousie's door
Where he had often been before.
He said, "Missy Mouse, are you within?"
"Yes kind sir, I sit and spin."
He took Missy Mouse upon his knee
And said "Missy Mouse, will you marry me?"
"Without my Uncle Rat's consent"
"I wouldn't marry the pres-I-dent."
Uncle Rat laughed and shook his fat sides,
To think his niece would be a bride.
When Uncle Rat gave his consent
The weasel wrote the publishment.
Where will the wedding supper be?
Way down yonder in a holler tree.
What will the wedding supper be?
Two green beans and a black-eyed pea.
The first guest in was a bumblebee
He danced a jig with a crook-backed flea.
The owl did hoot, the birds they sang
And through the woods the music rang.
They all went sailing 'cross the lake
And got swallered up by a big black snake
There's bread and cheese upon the shelf
If you want any more you can sing it yourself.
A traditional song which was a likely inspiration for Where The
Wild Roses Grow. Nick's song is also available.
When I was a wee thing, I heard my mother say
That I was meant for rambling and would easy go astray
And before that I would work, I would rather sport and
play
With my Johnny on the banks of red roses
On the banks of red roses, my love and I sat down
He took out his tuning box to play his love a tune
In the middle of the tune, his love got up and cried
Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny, would you leave me?
So they walked and they talked until they came upon a
cave
Where the night before her darling had spent digging on
her grave
Aye, the night before her darling had spent digging on
her grave
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of red roses
Oh no, oh no, cried she, that grave's not meant for me
Yes, oh yes, my darling, that your bridal bed shall be
Yes, oh yes, my darling, that your bridal bed shall be
And he's made her to lie down on red roses
And all on his way homeward, his heart was filled with
fear
Every maid he came upon, he thought it was his dear
Yes, every maid he came upon, he thought it was his
dear
Who he made to lie down on red roses
All The Pretty Little Horses
Traditional song that Nick used for the track he wrote on the
Current 93 album All The Pretty Little Horsies. Nick's version is
also available.
Hushaby, don' you cry
Go to sleepy little baby
When you awake you shall have cake
And all the pretty little horses.
Blacks and Bays, Dapples and Grays
Coach, and a six a little horses.
So hushaby, etc.
Way down yonda', down in the medder
There's a poor little lambie.
Bees an' the butterflies peckin' out his eyes
Poor lambie cried fo' his mammy.
But hushaby, etc.
Three traditional versions of the song from Murder Ballads.
Nick's version is also available. Further details (and the actual
book Nick edited from) are also available.
Stagolee
Bad man Stagalee when he bad,
He bad wid a gun
Stagalee, Stagalee --- you must-a been a sinner
Ev'ry- Christmas eve they give Stagalee a dinner
Bad man Stagalee, when he bad
He bad wid a gun.
Don't you remember you remember
One dark stormy night
Stagalee and Bill O. Lion
Dey had dat noble fight.
Bill O. Lion tole Stagalee
Please don't take my life
I got three little children
And a dear lil' lovin'wife
Stagalee told Billy O. Lion
I don't care for your three lil' children
Or even your lovin' wife
You stole mah Stetson hat
And I'm goin to take yo'life
Stagalee pulled out his forty-four
It went boom boom boom
It wasn't long' fore Bill O. Lion
WVere layin'on de flo'
Stagalee's woman she went to her boss
Said, "Please give me some change.
Dey got my baby in de station house
An'mah business mus'be'ranged. "
Stagalee asked his woman
"How much change has you got?"
She run her han'in her stocking feet
And pulled out a hundred spot.
She had to get mo'money.
From Southern Folk Ballads, McNeill Collected from Vera
Hall, AL 1947
Stagolee
Stagolee was a bad man,
Ev'rybody knows.
Spent one hundred dollars
Just to buy him a suit of dothes.
He was a bad man
That mean old Stagolee
Stagolee shot Billy de Lyons
What do you think about that?
Shot him down in cold blood
Because he stole his Stetson hat;
He was a bad man
That mean old Stagolee
Billy de Lyons said, Stagolee
Please don't take my life
I've got two little babes
And a darling, loving wife;
You are a bad man
You mean old Stagolee.
What do I care about your two little babes,
Your darling loving wife?,
You done stole my Stetson hat
I'm bound to take your life;
He was a bad man,
That mean old Stagolee.
The judge said, Stagolee,
What you doing in here?,
You done shot Mr. Billy de Lyons,
You going to die in the electric chair;
He was a bad man
That mean old Stagolee.
Twelve o'clock they killed him
Head reached up high
Last thing that poor boy said,
"My six-shooter never lied."
He was a bad man,
That mean old Stagolee.
Stagolee
chorus: Stagolee, Stagolee, he's the meanest man in
town
When that boy starts gamblin', better lay your money
down
Down in New Orleans where they got that Lyon's Club
Every step you step you're steppin' in Billy de Lyon's
blood
I remember one September, on a cold and stormy night
Billy de Lyon and Stagolee, Lord, they had a great big
fight
Billy shot a seven, and Stack he said he'd pass
Stack said to Billy de Lyon, "Brother,
You done shot your last"
The woman asked the sheriff, said "How can this be?
You got all them bad men, but you can't get Stagolee"
Deputies took their badges and they laid them on the
shelf
"If you want to get that bad man, you get him by
yourself"
Now send for the policemen, a hundred thousand come
Loaded down with rifles and a great big Gatling gun
On Friday we condemned him, the judge he lowered his
head
On Saturday we hanged him, I was glad to see him dead
Erik wrote: "The theme is similar to the Nick's song New Morning.
Note also that the line 'There'll be no sadness, no sorrow' also
is in New Morning. Finally, the bright day versus black night
antithesis is also the same.
Well, I'm tired and so weary but I must go along,
Till the Lord comes and calls, calls me away, oh, yes,
And the mornin's so bright and the lamb is the light,
And the night, night is as black as the sea, oh, yes.
CHORUS
There will be peace in the valley for me, some day,
There will be peace in the valley for me, dear Lord, I
pray.
There'll be no sadness, no sorrow, no trouble I see,
There will be peace in the valley for me.
The bear will be gentle and the wolf will be tame,
And the lion shall lie down with the lamb, that's what
it
says, And the beasts from the wild will be led by a
child,
And I will be changed, changed from this creature that
I am, oh, yes.
CHORUS
Printed in J. Silverman, American History Songbook. Nick has sung
his version of this song live.
(Chorus)
Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.
Jordon's water is chilly and cold.
God's gonna trouble the water.
It chills the body, but not the soul.
God's gonna trouble the water.
If you get there before I do.
God's gonna trouble the water.
Tell all of my friends I'm coming too.
God's gonna trouble the water.
Written by Edwin R. Hawkins
Nick has performed a version of this song live (combined with
Deanna). He also sung it on The Road to God Knows Where.
Oh happy day, oh happy day; When Jesus washed, oh when
He washed
When my Jesus washed, He washed my sins away; Oh happy
day.
He taught me how to walk, fight and pray, fight and
pray
And in rejoicing, in rejoicing every, every day, every
day.
Oh happy day, oh happy day; When my Jesus washed, oh
when He washed
When my Jesus washed all the sins away Oh happy day,
yeah.
You see He taught me how to watch, fight and pray fight
and pray
And in rejoicing, in rejoicing every day, every day
Oh happy, happy day, oh happy, happy day
Oh it felt so good when Jesus, when Jesus washed,
When my Jesus washed my sins away.
Words and music by Kaye - Weisman - Fuller
"The Bad Seeds performed Cindy regularly in their live sets in
1990,and indeed on a TV appearance as well. I have a version of
Elvis Presly doing this song, but I think it's a traditional,
also known as 'I Wish I Was An Apple', or as 'Sydney'. I think
The Bad Seeds often sang 'Come on home, Sydney Cindy' -Maurice
Wish I was an apple dangling from a tree
Every time you'd pass me by you'd take a bite of me
I wish I was a bluebird I'd never fly away
I'd sit up on your shoulder baby and sing to you all
day
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home Cindy Cindy
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home to me
I wrote it in a letter, carved it on a tree
Told it to a honeycomb, told it to a bee
Told them that I love you, they all know its true
Say it till the cows come home until it gets to you
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home Cindy Cindy
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home to me
Need you in the morning to start the coffee pot
Need you in the afternoon to fan me when I'm hot
Need you in the evening when supper time is through
What I'm really tryin' to say is I can't get enough of
you
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home Cindy Cindy
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home to me
If I were a musician I'd harp on just one thing
You should never play my harp the way you pluck a
string
If only you would love me say it and tell me so
I need two charms about me baby to have the whole world
know
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home Cindy Cindy
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home to me
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home Cindy Cindy
Come on home Cindy Cindy, Come on home to me
Words and Music by Bob Dylan (1993 Special Rider Music)
Original version of Henry Lee. Nick's version is also available.
"Get down, get down, Love Henry," she cried,
"And stay all night with me.
I have gold chains, and the finest I have
I'll apply them all to thee."
"I can't get down and I shan't get down,
Or stay all night with thee.
Some pretty little girl in Cornersville
I love far better than thee."
He laid his head on a pillow of down.
Kisses she gave him three.
With a penny knife that she held in her hand
She murdered mortal he.
"Get well, get well, Love Henry, " she cried,
"Get well, get well," said she.
"Oh don't you see my own heart's blood
Come flowin' down so free?"
She took him by his long yellow hair,
And also by his feet.
She plunged him into well water, where
It runs both cold and deep.
"Lie there, lie there, Love Henry," she cried,
"Til the flesh rots off your bones.
Some pretty little girl in Cornersville
Will mourn for your return."
"Hush up, hush up, my parrot," she cried,
"Don't tell no news on me,
Or these costly beads around my neck,
I'll apply them all to thee.
"Fly down, fly down, pretty parrot," she cried,
"And light on my right knee.
The doors to your cage shall be decked with gold
And hung on a willow tree."
"I won't fly down, I can't fly down
And light on your right knee.
A girl who would murder her own true love
Would kill a little bird like me."
(John Lee Hooker 1959)
A song which was a likely inspiration for Tupelo. Nick's song
is also available.
Tupelo Blues - John Lee Hooker (3:23) (from the album The Country
Blues Of John Lee Hooker, Riverside 1959). Recorded several more
times, issued as Vee Jay single "Tupelo (Backwater Blues) / Dusty
Road", June 1960; also on 1962 Vee Jay album "The Folklore of
John Lee Hooker" as "Tupelo". Also issued a live recording from
Newport Folk Festival in the early 60s.
Did ya read about the flood?
Happened long time ago,
In Tupelo, Mississippi.
There were thousands o' lives,
Destroyed.
It rained, it rained,
Both night and day.
The poor people was worried.
Didn't have no place to go.
Could hear may people, cryin' "Lord!"
Have mercy!"
'Cause you're the only one,
That we can turn to"
Happened a long time ago.
A little town,
Way back in Mississippi,
In Tupelo
Hm-mm, Hm-mm, Hm-mm-mm,
Hm-mm, Hm-mm, Hm-mm-mm,
Hm- mm, Hm-mm-mm,
Hm-mm, Hm-mm, Hm-mm-mm,
There was women, and there was children,
They were screamin' an' cryin',
Cryin', "Lord, have mercy!
You're the only one now, that we can turn to."
Way back down in Mississippi, a little country town.
I know ya read about it,
'Cause I'll never forget it.
The mighty flood in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Been years ago.
Hm-mm, Hm-mm Hm-mm-mm,
Oh-hoh, Oh- hoh Oh-oh-oh
Hm-mm-mm
Oh-hmm, Lord, have mercy!
Wasn't that a mighty time? Tupelo's gone.
John Lee Hooker - Vocal, Acoustic Guitar (Orpheum Music, 1959)
A traditional song similar to My Little Boat Is Empty. Nick's
song is also available.
You know I rowed a little boat,
five miles 'cross the pond
You know I rowed a little boat,
'bout five miles 'cross the pond
I throwed my things in the little boat,
it rolled me right along
It was thunderin' and lightenin',
but it rolled me right along
It was thunderin', it was lightenin',
Oh yeah, it rolled me right along
There were thousands of people,
they didn't have no place to go, mmm
Little children they were screamin'
and cryin', Oh yeah
The wind was howlin',
they didn't have no place to go, mmm
There were thousands o' people,
they's goin' from door to door, mmm
My little boat kept rollin',
it kept on rollin',
You know it rolled me right along
Mmm-mmm, Kept on rollin,
Kept on rollin' Kept on rollin'
Kept on rollin', Rollin'
Last-modified: Sun, 03 Jan 1999 14:45:11 GMT