Playlist Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

nick cave & the bad seeds - o children

Pass me that lovely little gun
My dear, my darting one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don't even want to let them start

They are knocking now upon your door
They measure the room, they know the score
They're mopping up the butcher's floor
Of your broken little hearts

O children

Forgive us now for what we've done
It started out as a bit of fun
Here, take these before we run away
The keys to the gulag

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They're gathering round with all my friends
We're older now, the light is dim
And you are only just beginning

O children

We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal clear
It's round about, it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

The cleaners have done their job on you
They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove
They've hosed you down, you're good as new
They're lining up to inspect you

O children

Poor old Jim's white as a ghost
He's found the answer that was lost
We're all weeping now, weeping because
There ain't nothing we can do to protect you

O children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice

Hey! Little train, we are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station

Hey, little train! Wait for me!
I once was blind but now I see!
Have you left a seat for me?
Is that such a strech of imagination

Hey, little train! Wait for me
I was held in chains but now I'm free
I'm hanging in there, don't you see
In this process of elimination

Hey! Little train, we are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
It's beyond my wildest expectation

Hey! Little train, we are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station

nick cave & the bad seeds - ain t gonna rain anymore

Once there came a storm in the form of a girl
It blew to pieces my snug little world
And sometimes I swear I can still hear her howl
Down through the wreckage and the ruins

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone

Now the stom has passed over me
I'm left to drift on a dead calm sea
And watch her forever through the cracks in the beams
Nailed across the doorways of the bedrooms of my dreams

Now I have no one to hold
Now I am all alone again
It ain't too hot and it ain't too cold
And there is no sign of rain

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone, yeah
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone, yeah
And I'm on my own

She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
Say what you will, I don't care

nick cave & the bad seeds - a box for black paul

Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Ah'm enquirin on behalf of his soul
Ah'd be beholdin to ya all
For a lil information, just a little indication
Just who'll dig the hole?
When ya done ransackin' his room
grabbin any damn thing that shines,
throw the scraps down on the street
Like all his books and his notes.
All his books and his notes and
All the junk that he wrote
the whole fucken lot right up in smoke
Ain't there nuthin sacred anymore
Won't someone will build a box for Black Paul?
And their shootin off his guns
and their shootin off their mouths
saying 'Fuck with us ... and die!'
'Fuck with us ... and die!'
(Let's see that rat of fear go scuttle in their skulls)
'Cover that eye! Cover that frozen eye!'

Black-puppet, in a heap up against the stoning-wall
Black-puppet, go to sleep, ma-ma won't scold ya anymore

Armies of ants, wade up the lil red streams
they're headin for the mother-pool
O lord, it's cruel! O man it's hot! O man it's hot and
And some of them ants they just climb to the spot
Who threw the first stone at Black Paul?

'Don't ask us', say the critics and the hacks
The pen-pushers and the quacks
'We jes cum to git dah facks!'
'We jes cum to git dah facks!'
Hey, hey, hey, hey...

Here is the hammer, that built the scaffold,
and built the box...
Here is the shovel, that dug the hole,
in this ground of rocks...
And here is the pile of stones!
and for each one planted, God only knows,
a blood-rose grown...
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
These are the true Demon-Flowers!
Stand back everyone! Blood-black everyone!

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

'Not I', said the widow, adjusting her veil
'Ah will not drive the nail
Or cart his puppet-body home,
For ah done that one hundred times before,
Yeah! ah done that one hundred times or more,
And why should ah dress his wounds?
When he has wounded my dress, nightly,
Right across the floor'

Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Who'll carry it up the hill?
Who'll bury it in the black-soil?
And from the woods and the thickets
Come the ghosts of his victims
'We love you!'
'Ah love you!'
'and this will not hurt a bit,
Outta my eyes was your rise to full glory Spring up from the corp(??) of life we'll go up, up, up, up, up into Death
up, up, up, up, inhale its breath
O yes, Death favours those that favor Death'

Here is the stone, and this is the inscription it bare:
'Below Lies Black Paul, Under The Upper...
But Above and Beyond The Surface-Flat-Fall There.'

And all the angels come on down,
And all you men and women crowd around
And all the old widows weeping into their skirts
And all the lil gals and the lil Boys
And the scribes with their pens poised
All the hullaballoo, all the norse
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All the hullaballoo, all of the noise
clears his throat of black blood
singin Black Paul like a lonely boy...

We-e-e-ll, ah have cried one thousand tears
Ah've cried a thousand tears, its true
And the next stormy night you know,
That ah'm still cryin them for you

Well, ah had a gal she was so sweet,
Red dress, and long red hair hangin down
And heaven yes ain't heaven
Without that lil girl hangin around

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

nick cave & the bad seeds - red right hand

Take a little walk to the edge of town
Now spread your wings and fly
Don't the lights of the city look so damn pretty
When you're flying so high?
It's hard to know 'bout the down-below
The streets, babe, are swimming deep in blood
It seems
To make a grown man cry

You really wanna know what's wrong with this land?
Just scratch your head with your red right hand

You see, everyone's a liar, babe, and that's the truth
I said everyone's a liar, baby, and I got the proof
You got a new boy, you feel you're in with a chance
You think you're in his arms but you're in his hands
But still he seems so cute and true and groovy

But get that boy up on the stand
And watch him raise his red right hand

Move your hips, babe, move your thighs
Use your lips, babe, conceal his prize
He's tracing a tiny finger down your spine
He's leaving behind a thin red line
Oh, don't get so sad when it all comes down so heavy

A low wind moans across this land
As he rakes at your chest with his red right hand

I'm talking 'bout blood, babe
It's in your veins
Your mummy and daddy
They've got the same
You're under the mirror, day after day
You see a pretty face crumbling away
As you become your mum and daddy

Scream once, scream twice, now scream again
And cover that face with your red right hand

nick cave & the bad seeds - in the ghetto

As the snow flies
On a cold and grey Chicago morn
A poor little baby child is born in the ghetto

And his mama cries
Cause there's one thing that she don't need
Is another little hungry mouth to feed in the ghetto

Oh people don't you understand
This child needs a helping hand
He's gonna grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we that blind to see?
Do we simply turn our heads and look the other way?

And the world turns
And the hungry little boy with the runny nose
Plays in the streets as the cold wind blows in the ghetto
And his hunger burns
So he starts to roam the streets at night
And he learns how to steal and he learns how to fight in the ghetto

Then one night in desperation
The young man breaks away
He buys a gun and steals a car
He tries to run but he don't get far
And his mama cries
A crowd gathers round an angry young man
Face down in the street with a gun in his hand in the ghetto

Oh people don't you understand
This child needs a helping hand
He's gonna grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we that blind to see?
Do we simply turn our heads and look the other way?

And as her young man dies
On a cold and grey Chicago morn
Another little baby child is born in the ghetto

nick cave & the bad seeds - abattoir blues

The sun is high up in the sky and I'm in my car
Drifting down into the abattoir
Do you see what I see, dear?

The air grows heavy. I listen to your breath
Entwined together in this culture of death
Do you see what I see, dear?

Slide on over here, let me give you a squeeze
To avert this unholy evolutionary trajectory
Can you hear what I hear, babe?
Does it make you feel afraid?

Everything's dissolving, babe, according to plan
The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land
I went to bed last night and my
moral code got jammed
I woke up this morning with a Frappucino in my hand

I kissed you once. I kissed you again
My heart it tumbled like the stock exchange
Do you feel what I feel, dear?

Mass extinction, darling, hypocrisy
These things are not good for me
Do you see what I see, dear?

The line the God throws down to you and me
Makes a pleasing geometry
Shall we leave this place now, dear?
Is there someway out of here?

I wake with the sparrows and I hurry off to work
The need for validation, babe, gone completely
berserk
I wanted to be your Superman but I turned out such a
jerk
I got the abattoir blues
I got the abattoir blues
I got the abattoir blues
Right down to my shoes

nick cave & the bad seeds - 500 miles

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

nick cave & the bad seeds - albert goes west

Albert goes west, he crossed the vast indifferent deserts of Arizona, oh yeah
He had a psychotic episode on a dude ranch that involved a bottle of ammonia
Henry, he went south and lost his way deep in the weeping forests of Le Vulva
He grew so wan, he grew so sick, he ended up in a bungalow sucking a revolver

The light upon your rainy streets offers many reflections
I won't be hold responsible for my actions

Bobby, he goes north, then goes east, then over to New Hampshire
Bobby is a cautious man, he walked into a Concord dive to drink a beer

Mhm

Do you wanna dance?
Do you wanna move?
Do you wanna dance?
Do you wanna groove?

I said the world is full of endless abstractions
And I won't be held responsible for my actions

Me, I ain't going anywhere, just sit and watch the sun come up, I like it here
I watch the people go ticking past, go hey hey hey, you know I gotta say I like it here

All right

Sha la-la-la, sha la-la-la, sha la-la-la-la-la-la
Sha-la-la-la, sha la-la-la, sha la-la-la-la-la-la

nick cave & the bad seeds - all tomorrow s parties

(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

nick cave & the bad seeds - and no more shall we part

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

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

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

And no more shall we part
Your chain of command has been silenced now
And all of those birds would've sung to your beautiful heart
Anyhow

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

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

For no more shall we part

nick cave & the bad seeds - anthrocene

All the fine winds gone
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force that shifts at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene

All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love

Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene

Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene

Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now

Well, I heard you been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little worm
And brace yourself

nick cave & the bad seeds - are you the one that i ve been waiting for

I've felt you coming girl, as you drew near
I knew you'd find me, cause I longed you here
Are you my desitiny? Is this how you'll appear?
Wrapped in a coat with tears in your eyes?
Well take that coat babe, and throw it on the floor
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?

As you've been moving surely toward me
My soul has comforted and assured me
That in time my heart it will reward me
And that all will be revealed
So I've sat and I've watched an ice-age thaw
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?

Out of sorrow entire worlds have been built
Out of longing great wonders have been willed
They're only little tears, darling, let them spill
And lay your head upon my shoulder
Outside my window the world has gone to war
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?

O we will know, won't we?
The stars will explode in the sky
O but they don't, do they?
Stars have their moment and then they die

There's a man who spoke wonders though I've never met him
He said, "He who seeks finds and who knocks will be let in"
I think of you in motion and just how close you are getting
And how every little thing anticipates you
All down my veins my heart-strings call
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?

nick cave & the bad seeds - as i sat sadly by her side

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

nick cave & the bad seeds - rainy night in soho

(S. MacGowan)

I've been loving you a long time
Down all the years, down all the days
And I've cried for all your troubles
Smiled at your funny little ways

We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into heaven
And some of them fell into hell

I took shelter from a shower
And I stepped into your arms
On a rainy night in Soho
The wind was whistling all its charms

I sang you all my sorrows
And you told me all your joys
Whatever happened to that old song
To all those little girls and boys
Those little girls and boys

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means
But there's a light I hold before me
And you're the measure of my dreams
The measure of my dreams

These last two verses are not sung by Nick, but are part of the original song as written by Shane MacGowan:

Sometimes I wake up in the morning
The gingerlady by my bed
Covered in a cloak of silence
I hear you in my head

I'm not singing for the future
I'm not dreaming of the past
I'm not talking of the fist time
I never think about the last

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means
Still there's a light I hold before me
You're the measure of my dreams
The measure of my dreams

nick cave & the bad seeds