Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

[fox69]

"The Carnival Is Over"

"The Carnival Is Over"


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

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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"The Carny"

"The Carny"


And no-one saw the Carny go, the weeks flew by
Until they moved on the show, leaving his caravan behind
It was parked out on the south east ridge
And as the company crossed the bridge
With the first rain filling the bone-dry river bed
It shone, just so, upon the edge
Away, away, we're sad to say

Dog-boy, Atlas, Mandrake, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cast an eye behind
In the hope that the Carny would return to his own kind

The Carny left behind a horse so skin and bone that he named Sorrow
And it was in a shallow, unmarked grave
That that old nag was laid
In the then parched meadow

And it was the dwarves that were given the task of digging the ditch
And laying the nag's carcass in the ground
While boss Bellini, waved his smoking pistol around
saying "The nag was dead meat"
"We can't afford to carry dead weight"
While the whole company standing about, not making a sound
And turning to the dwarves perched on the enclosure gate
The boss says "Bury this lump of crow bait"

And the rain came hammering down
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats growling in their cages
The bird-girl flapping and squawking around
The whole valley reeking of wet beast
Wet beast and rotten, sodden hay
Freak and brute creation all
Packed up and on their way

The three dwarves peering from their wagon's hind
Moses says to Noah "Shoulda dugga deepa one"
Their grizzled faces like dying moons
Still dirty from the digging done

And Charlie the Atlas to the three said
"I guess the Carny ain't gonna show"
And they were silent for a spell
wishing they'd done a better job of burying Sorrow

And the company passed from the valley
Into a higher ground
And the rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow
And on the mound

Until nothing was left, nothing left at all
Except the body of Sorrow
That rose in time
To float upon the surface of the eaten soil

And a murder of crows did circle 'round
First one, then the others flapping blackly down

And the Carny's van still sat upon the edge
Tilting slowly as the firm ground turned to sludge

And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down
And the rain it hammered down

And no-one saw the Carny go
No-one saw the Carny go
No-one saw the Carny go
I say, it's funny how things go...

 

[fox69]

"The Curse Of Millhaven"

"The Curse Of Millhaven"


I live in a town called Millhaven
And it's small and it's mean and it's cold
But if you come around just as the sun goes down
You can watch the whole town turn to gold
It's around about then that I used to go a-roaming
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all gotta die
My name is Loretta but I prefer Lottie
I'm closing in on my fifteenth year
And if you think you have seen a pair of eyes more green
Then you sure didn't see them around here
My hair is yellow and I'm always a-combing
La la la la La la la lie
Mama often told me we all got to die
You must have heard about The Curse Of Millhaven
How last Christmas Bill Blake's little boy didn't come home
They found him next week in One Mile Creek
His head bashed in and his pockets full of stones
Well, just imagine all the wailing and moaning
La la la la La la la lie
Even little Billy Blake's boy, he had to die
Then Professor O'Rye from Millhaven High
Found nailed to his door his prize-winning terrier
Then next day the old fool brought little Biko to school
And we all had to watch as he buried her
His eulogy to Biko had all the tears a-flowing
La la la la La la la lie
Even God's little creatures, they have to die
Our little town fell into a state of shock
A lot of people were saying things that made little sense
Then the next thing you know the head of Handyman Joe
Was found in the fountain of the Mayor's residence
Foul play can really get a small town going
La la la la La la la lie
Even God's children all have to die
Then, in a cruel twist of fate, old Mrs Colgate
Was stabbed but the job was not complete
The last thing she said before the cops pronounced her dead
Was, "My killer is Loretta and she lives across the street!"
Twenty cops burst through my door without even phoning
La la la la La la la lie
The young ones, the old ones, they all gotta die
Yes, it is I, Lottie. The Curse Of Millhaven
I've struck horror in the heart of this town
Like my eyes ain't green and my hair ain't yellow
It's more like the other way around
I gotta pretty little mouth underneath all the foaming
La la la la La la la lie
Sooner or later we all gotta die
Since I was no bigger than a weavil they've been saying I was evil
That if "bad" was a boot that I'd fit it
That I'm a wicked young lady, but I've been trying hard lately
O fuck it! I'm a monster! I admit it!
It makes me so mad my blood really starts a-going
La la la la La la la lie
Mama always told me that we all gotta die
Yeah, I drowned the Blakey kid, stabbed Mrs. Colgate, I admit
Did the handyman with his circular saw in his garden shed
But I never crucified little Biko, that was two junior high school psychos
Stinky Bohoon and his friend with the pumpkin-sized head
I'll sing to the lot, now you got me going
La la la la La la la lie
All God's children have all gotta die
There were all the others, all our sisters and brothers
You assumed were accidents, best forgotten
Recall the children who broke through the ice on Lake Tahoo?
Everyone assumed the "Warning" signs had followed them to the bottom
Well, they're underneath the house where I do quite a bit of stowing
La la la la La la la lie
Even twenty little children, they had to die
And the fire of '91 that razed the Bella Vista slum
There was the biggest shit-fight this country's ever seen
Insurance companies ruined, land lords getting sued
All cause of wee girl with a can of gasoline
Those flames really roared when the wind started blowing
La la la la La la la lie
Rich man, poor man, all got to die
Well I confessed to all these crimes and they put me on trial
I was laughing when they took me away
Off to the asylum in an old black Mariah
It ain't home, but you know, it's fucking better than jail
It ain't such bad old place to have a home in
La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all gotta die
Now I got shrinks that will not rest with their endless Rorschach tests
I keep telling them they're out to get me
They ask me if I feel remorse and I answer, "Why of course!
There is so much more I could have done if they'd let me!"
So it's Rorschach and Prozac and everything is groovy
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they all have to die
La la la la La la la lie
I'm happy as a lark and everything is fine
Singing La la la la La la la lie
Yeah, everything is groovy and everything is fine
Singing La la la la La la la lie
All God's children they gotta die

 

[fox69]

"The Good Son"

"The Good Son"


One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man is gone

The good son walks into the field
He is a tiller, he has a tiller's hands
But down in his heart now
He lays down his queer plans
Against his brother and against his family
Yet he worships his brother
And he worships his mother
But it's his father, he says, is an unfair man
The good son
The good son
The good son

The good son has sat and often wept
Beneath a malign star by which he's kept
And the night-time in which he's wrapped
Speaks of good and speaks of evil
And he calls to his mother
And he calls to his father
But they are deaf in the shadows
Of his brother's truancy
The good son
The good son
The good son
The good son

And he curses his mother
And he curses his father
And he curses his virtue like an unclean thing
The good son
The good son
The good son

One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man

 

[fox69]

"The Hammer Song"

"The Hammer Song"


I set out on monday
The night was cold and vast
And my brother slept

And though I left quite quietly
My father raged and raged
And my mother wept

Now, my life was like a river
All sucked into the ground
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down

Many miles did I roam
Through the ice and through the snow
My horse died on the seventh day

I stumbled into a city
Where the people tried to kill me
And I ran in shame

Then I came upon a river
And I laid my saddle down
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down
It knocked me to the ground
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home ground"
Lord, the hammer came down

Now I've been made weak by visions
For visions did I see
All through the night

On the seventh hour an angel came
With many snakes in all his hands
And I fled in fright

I pushed off into the river
And the water came around
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down
And it did not make a sound
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home ground"
Lord, the hammer came down

And I pushed off into the river
And the water swelled around
And then the hammer came down
Lord, the hammer came down
And it did not make a sound
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home ground"
Lord, the hammer came down
But it throw me round and round
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home town"
Lord, the hammer came down
And it knocked my to the ground
And I got down on my knees
And I said, "Please"
I said, "Take me to my home town"
Lord, the hammer came down
And it did not make a sound
And I said, "Please, please
Take me back to my home ground"
Lord, the hammer came down

 

[fox69]

"The Hammer Song"
(originally by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band)

"The Hammer Song"
(originally by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band)


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

Chiseling the surface
Firing the furnace
Hammering the anvil
Hammering the anvil
Firing the furnace
Chiseling the surface
Shoveling the ashes
Hammering the anvil
Hammering the anvil.......
Oh don't talk to me

 

[fox69]

"The Kindness Of Strangers"

"The Kindness Of Strangers"


They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed
With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
She'd grown up hungry, she'd grown up poor
She left her home in Arkansas
O poor Mary Bellows
She wanted to see the deep blue sea
She travelled across Tennessee
O poor Mary Bellows
She met a man along the way
He introduced himself as Richard Slade
O poor Mary Bellows
Poor Mary thought that she might die
When she saw the ocean for the first time
O poor Mary Bellows
She checked into a cheap little place
Richard Slade carried in her old suitcase
O poor Mary Bellows
"I'm a good girl, sir", she said to him
I couldn't possibly permit you in
O poor Mary Bellows
Slade tipped his hat and winked his eye
And turned away without goodbye
O poor Mary Bellows
She sat on her bed and thought of home
With the sea breeze whistling all alone
O poor Mary Bellows
In hope and loneliness she crossed the floor
And undid the latch on the front door
O poor Mary Bellows
They found her the next day cuffed to the bed
A rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
O poor Mary Bellows
So mothers keep your girls at home
Don't let them journey all alone
Tell them this world is full of danger
And to shun the company of strangers
O poor Mary Bellows
O poor Mary Bellows

 

[fox69]

"The Loom Of The Land"

"The Loom Of The Land"


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

And the wind it bit bitter
For a boy of no means
With no shoes on his feet
And a knife in his jeans

Along the loom of the land
The mission bells peeled
From the tower at Saint Mary's
Down to Reprobate Fields

And I saw that the world
Was all blessed and bright
And Sally breathed softly
In the majestic night

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"The Lyre Of Orpheus"

"The Lyre Of Orpheus"


Orpheus sat gloomy in his garden shed
Wondering what to do
With a lump of wood, a piece of wire
And a little pot of glue
O Mamma O Mamma

He sawed at the wood with half a heart
And glued it top to bottom
He strung a wire in between
He was feeling something rotten
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus looked at his instrument
And he gave the wire a pluck
He heard a sound so beautiful
He gasped and said O my God
O Mamma O Mamma

He rushed inside to tell his wife
He went racing down the halls
Eurydice was still asleep in bed
Like a sack of cannonballs
O Mamma O Mamma

Look what I've made, cried Orpheus
And he plucked a gentle note
Eurydice's eyes popped from their sockets
And her tongue burst through her throat
O Mamma O Mamma

O God, what have I done, he said
As her blood pooled in the sheets
But in his heart he felt a bliss
With which nothing could compete
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus went leaping through the fields
Strumming as hard as he did please
Birdies detonated in the sky
Bunnies dashed their brains out on the trees
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus strummed till his fingers bled
He hit a G minor 7
He woke up God from a deep, deep sleep
God was a major player in heaven
O Mamma O Mamma

God picked up a giant hammer
And He threw it with an thunderous yell
It smashed down hard on Orpheus' head
And knocked him down a well
O Mamma O Mamma

The well went down very deep
Very deep went down the well
The well went down so very deep
Well, the well went down to hell
O Mamma O Mamma

Poor Orpheus woke up with a start
All amongst the rotting dead
His lyre tacked safe under his arm
His brains all down his head
O Mamma O Mamma

Eurydice appeared brindled in blood
And she said to Orpheus
If you play that fucking thing down here
I'll stick it up your orifice!
O Mamma O Mamma

This lyre lark is for the birds, said Orpheus
It's enough to send you bats
Let's stay down here, Eurydice, dear
And we'll have a bunch of screaming brats
O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus picked up his lyre for the last time
He was on a real low down bummer
And stared deep into the abyss and said
This one is for Mamma

O Mamma O Mamma
O Mamma O Mamma

 

[fox69]

"The Mercy Seat"

"The Mercy Seat"


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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