Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

[fox69]

"Long Black Veil"

"Long Black Veil"


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

 

[fox69]

"Long Time Man"

"Long Time Man"


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"Love Letter"

"Love Letter"


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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[fox69]

"Lovely Creature"

"Lovely Creature"


There she stands, this lovely creature
There she stands, there she stands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands
So I asked this lovely creature
Yes, I asked. Yes I asked
Would she walk with me a while
Through this night so fast
She took my hand, this lovely creature
"Yes", she said, "Yes", she said
"Yes, I'll walk with you a while"
It was a joyful man she led
Over hills, this lovely creature
Over mountains, over ranges
By great pyramids and sphinxs
We met drifters and strangers
Oh the sands, my lovely creature
And the mad, moaning winds
At night the deserts writhed
With diabolical things
Through the night, through the night
The wind lashed and it whipped me
When I got home, my lovely creature
She was no longer with me
Somewhere she lies, this lovely creature
Beneath the slow drifting sands
With her hair full of ribbons
And green gloves on her hands

 

[fox69]

"Loverman"

"Loverman"


There's a devil waiting outside your door (How much longer)
Bucking and braying and paywing the floor
Well, he's howling with pain and crawling up the walls
There's a devil waiting outside your door
He's weak with evil and broken by the world
He's shouting your name and asking for more
There's a devil waiting outside your door

Lover man! Since the world began
Forever, Amen Till the end of time
Take off that dress I'm coming down
I'm your loverman
Cause I am what I am what I am what I am

L is for LOVE baby
O is for ONLY you that I do
V is for loving VIRTUALLY everything you are
E is for loving almost EVERYTHING that you do
R is for RAPE me
M is for MURDER me
A is for ANSWERING all of my pryers
N is for KNOWING your loverman's going to be the answer to all of yours

I'll be your Loverman! Till the bitter end
While empires burn down
Forever and ever and ever and ever Amen
I'm your Loverman
So help me, baby So help me
Cause I am what I am what I am
I'm your Loverman!

There's a devil crawling along your floor
With a trembling heart,
he's coming through your door
With his straining sex in his jumping paw
There'a a devil crawling along your floor
And he's old and he's stupid and he's hungry and he's sore
And he's blind and he's lame and he's dirty and he's poor
There's a devil crawling along your floor

Loverman! Here I stand Forever, Amen
Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
Forgive me, baby My hands are tied
And I got no choice No, I got no choice at all

I'll say it again

L is for LOVE, baby
O is for O yes I do
V is for VIRTUE, so I ain't gonna hurt you
E is for EVEN if you want me to
R is for RENDER unto me, baby
M is for that which is MINE
A is for ANY old how, darling
N is for ANY old time

I'll be your Loverman! I got a masterplan
To take off your dress And be your man
Seize the throne Seize the mantle
Seize the crown Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
I'm your Loverman!

There's a devil lying by your side
You might think he's asleep
but take a look at his eyes
He wants you, darling, to be his bride
There's a devil lying by your side

 

[fox69]

"Lucy"

"Lucy"


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

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

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

I'll love her forever
I'll love her for all time
I'll love her till the stars
Fall down from the sky
Now the bell-tower is ringing
And I shake on the floor
O Lucy, can you hear me?
When I call and call

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

 

[fox69]

"Mercy"

"Mercy"


I stood in the water
In the middle month of winter
My camel skin was torture
I was in a state of nature
The wind, sir, it was wicked
I was so alone
Just as I predicted
My followers were gone

And I cried 'Mercy'
Have mercy upon me
And I got down on my knees

Thrown into a dungeon
Bread and water was my portion
Faith - my only weapon
To rest the devil's legion
The speak-hole would slide open
A viper's voice would plead
Thick with innuendo
Syphilis and Greed

And she cried 'Mercy'
Have mercy upon me
And I told her to get down on her knees

In a garden full of roses
My hands, tied behind me
My cousin was working miracles
I wondered if he'd find me
The moon was turned toward me
Like a platter made of gold
My death, it almost bored me
So often was it told

And I cried 'Mercy'
I cried mercy on me
Cryind 'Mercy'
Have mercy on me

 

[fox69]

"Mermaids"

"Mermaids"


She was a catch,
We were a match
I was the match that would fire up her snatch
There was a catch
I was no match
I was fired from her crutch
Now I sit around and watch
The mermaids sun themselves out on the rocks
They are beyond our touch
I watch and watch
Wave at me
They wave at me
They wave and slip
Back into the sea

All the ones who come
All the ones who go
Down to the water
All the ones who come
All the ones who go
Down to the sea

I believe in God
I believe in mermaids too
I believe in 72 virgins on a chain (why not, why not)
I believe in the rapture
For I've seen your face
On the floor of the ocean
At the bottom of the ray

I do drive a relentless course
I do husband alertness course
I do mermaid alertness course
Watch them out on the rocks
Wave at me
Wave at me
They wave and slip
Back into the sea

All the ones who come
All the ones who go
Down to the water
All the ones who come
And all the ones who go
Down to the sea

For all the ones who come
And all the ones who go
Down to the water
All the ones who come
And all the ones who go
Down to the sea

 

[fox69]

"Messiah Ward"

"Messiah Ward"


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

You are a forte of nature, dear
Your breath curls from your lips
As the trees bend down their branches
And touch you with their fingertips
They're bringing out the dead now
It's easy just to look away
They are bringing out the dead now
It's been a strange, strange day

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

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

Look away
Look away

 

[fox69]

"Midnight Man"

"Midnight Man"


Hold that chrysalis in your palm, see it split and change
It won't do you any harm, it's just trying to rearrange
It was born to live a day, now it flies up from your hand
It's beautiful, it's the one they call your ever-loving man

Wolves have carried your babies away, oh your kids drip from their teeth
The nights are long and the day is bitter cold beyond belief
You spread yourself like a penitent upon the mad vibrating sand
And through your teeth arrange to meet your midnight man

Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round, oh baby, don't you see
Everybody wanna be your midnight man

Don't disturb me as I sleep, treat me gently when I wake
Don't disturb me when I sleep even though your body aches
Even though your body aches to serve at his command
Between the wars she still adores her ever-loving man

Close your eyes, sleep in him, dream of your lost sons and daughters
Me, I'll raise up the dorsal fin, and glide up and down the waters
I'll glide up and down the waters, then I'll walk upon the land
And call them out, the ones who doubt your midnight man

Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round, oh baby, don't you see
Everybody wants to be your midnight man

It's early in the morning and I don't know what to do
It's early in the morning and I can't believe it's true
It's early in the morning and it's happening again
I called you once, I called you twice, ain't I your midnight man?

Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round to my place
Everybody's coming round, oh baby, don't you see
Everybody wants to be your midnight man

Everybody's coming round
Everybody's coming round
Everybody's coming round
To be your midnight man
To be your midnight man