Nick Cave : Lyre Of Orpheus
2004
>
<
- The Lyre Of Orpheus
- Breathless
- Babe, You Turn Me On
- Easy Money
- Supernaturally
- Spell
- Carry Me
- O Children
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
Orpheus looked at his instrument
And he gave the wire a pluck
He heard a sound so beautiful
He gasped and said Oh my God
Oh Mama, oh Mama
He rushed inside to tell his wife
He went racing down the halls
Eurydice was still asleep in bed
Like a sack of cannonballs
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
Oh 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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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!
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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
Oh Mama, oh Mama
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 Mama
Oh Mama, oh Mama
Oh Mama, oh Mama
Breathless
|
C
|
G
|
C
|
G
|
F
|
G
|
C
G
C
It's up in the morning and on the downs
G
F
Little white clouds like gambolling lambs
G
C
And I am breathless over you
G
C
And the red-breasted robin beats his wings
G
F
His throat it trembles when he sings
G
C
For he is helpless before you
G
The happy hooded bluebells bow
C
G
F
And bend their heads all a-down
G
C
Heavied by the early morning dew
G
C
At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook
G
F
The fishes leap up to take a look
G
C
For they are breathless over you
G
C
Still your hands, and still your heart
G
F
For still your face comes shining through
G
C
And all the morning glows anew
G
C
Still your mind, still your soul
G
F
For still, the fire of love is true
G
C
And I am breathless without you
|
G
|
C
|
G
|
F
|
G
|
C
G
The wind circles among the trees
C
G
F
And it bangs about the new-made leaves
G
C
For it is breathless without you
G
The fox chases the rabbit round
C
G
F
The rabbit hides beneath the ground
G
C
For he is defenceless without you
G
The sky of daytime dies away
C
G
F
And all the earthly things they stop to play
G
C
For we are all breathless without you
G
I listen to my juddering bones
C
G
F
The blood in my veins and the wind in my lungs
G
C
And I am breathless without you
G
C
Still your hands, and still your heart
G
F
For still your face comes shining through
G
C
And all the morning glows anew
G
C
Still your mind, still your soul
G
F
For still, the fire of your love is true
G
C
And I am breathless without you
F
G
F
C
And I am breathless without you
Babe, You Turn Me On
G
Stay by me
G
Stay by me
Em
You are the one
D
G
My only true
G
The butcher bird makes its noise
And it asks you to agree
Em
With its brutal nesting habits
D
And its pointless savagery
G
Now the nightingale it sings to you
And raises up the ante
Em
I put one hand on your round ripe heart
D
And the other down your panties
G
Everything is falling, dear
Everything is wrong
Em
It's just history repeating itself
D
G
And babe you turn me on
G
Like a light bulb, babe
Em
D
Like a song
G
You race naked through the wilderness
You torment the birds and the bees
Em
You leapt into the abyss but find
D
It only goes up to your knees
G
I move stealthily from tree to tree
I shadow you for hours
Em
I make like I'm a little deer
D
Grazing on the flowers
G
Everything is collapsing, dear
All moral sense is gone
Em
It's just history repeating itself
D
G
And babe you turn me on
G
Like an idea, babe
Em
D
Like an atom bomb
G
We stand awed inside a clearing
We do not make a sound
Em
The crimson snow falls all about
D
Carpeting the ground
G
Everything is falling, dear
All rhyme and reason gone
Em
It's just history repeating itself
D
G
And babe you turn me on
G
Like an idea, babe
Em
D
Like an atom bomb
Easy Money
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
| Am
| | C
| |
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
| Am
| | C
| |
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
Em
/d
/c
/b
"It's difficult, it's very tough"
Em
/d
/c
/b
I said to the man who'd been sleeping rough
Am
To sit within a fragrant breeze
C
All among the nodding trees
D
Em
That hang heavy with the stuff
He threw his arms around my neck
He brushed the tear from my cheek
And held my soft white hand
He was an understanding man
He did not even barely hardly speak
D
Easy money
C
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
D
Rain it down on the house where we live
Em
Rain until you got nothing left to give
C
D
Em
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me
| Am
| | C
| |
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
All the things for which my heart yearns
Gives joy in diminishing returns
He kissed me on the mouth
His hands they headed south
And my cheek it burned
Money, man, it is a bitch
The poor, they spoil it for the rich
With my face pressed in the clover
I wondered when this would be over
And at home we are all so guilty-sad
Easy money
Pour it down the open drain
Pour it all through my veins
Pour it down, yeah, let it rain
And pour that ever-loving stuff down on me
| Am
| | C
| |
| Em
| /d
| /c
| /b
|
Now, I'm sitting pretty down on the bank
Life shuffles past at a low interest rate
In the money-coloured meadows
And all the interesting shadows
They leap up, then dissipate
D
Easy money
Em
Easy money
D
Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me
Supernaturally
|
Am
. . (
Em
) | ...
Am
Through the windswept coastal trees
G
Where the dead come rising from the sea
F
Dm
With a teddy bear clamped between her knees
Am
She says, where can my loverman be?
Well, I'm down here, babe, with the Eskimos
With the polar bears and the Arctic snow
With a party of penguins who do not know
How I can get back to you
G
Well I'm gonna ask you, babe
F
C
G
Hey! Ho! Oh baby don't you go
Hey! Ho! Oh no, no, no
Hey! Ho! Oh baby, don't you go
F
All supernatural on me
Dm
Am
Supernaturally
Once I was your heart's desire
Now I am the ape hunkered by the fire
With my knuckles dragging through the mire
You float by so majestically
You're my north, my south, my east, my west
You are the girl that I love best
With an army of tanks bursting from your chest
I wave my little white flag at thee
Well, can you see it, babe?
Hey! Ho! Oh baby don't you go
Hey! Ho! Oh no, no, no
Hey! Ho! Oh baby, don't you go
All supernatural on me
Supernaturally
Now I've turned the mirrors to wall
And I've emptied out the peopled halls
I've nailed shut the windows and I've locked the doors
There is no escape, you see
And I chase you up and down the stairs
Under tables and over chairs
I reach out and I touch your hair
And it cuts me like a knife
For there is always some little thing you gotta do!
Hey! Ho! Oh baby don't you go
Hey! Ho! Oh baby, no, no, no
Hey! Ho! Oh don't you go
All supernatural on me
Supernaturally
Spell
|
Gm
|
F
Gm
| ...
Gm
F
Gm
Through the woods, and frosted moors
Past the snow-caked hedgerows I
Bed down upon the drifting snow
Sleep beneath the melting sky
I whisper all your names
I know not where you are
But somewhere, somewhere, somewhere here
Gm
F
Upon this wild abandoned star
F
And I'm full of love
And I'm full of wonder
And I'm full of love
F
Gm
And I'm falling under your spell
|
Gm
|
F
Gm
| ...
Gm
F
Gm
I have no abiding memory
No awakening, no flaming dart
No word of consolation
No arrow through my heart
Only a feeble notion
A glimmer from afar
That I cling to with my fingers
Gm
F
As we go spinning wildly through the stars
And I'm full of love
And I'm full of wonder
And I'm full of love
And I'm falling under your spell
|
Gm
|
F
Gm
| ...
Gm
F
Gm
The wind lifts me to my senses
I rise up with the dew
The snow turns to streams of light
The purple heather grows anew
I call you by your name
I know not where you are
But somehow, somewhere, sometime soon
Gm
F
Upon this wild abandoned star
And I'm full of love
And I'm full of wonder
And I'm full of love
And I'm falling under your spell
|
Gm
|
F
Gm
| ...
Carry Me
|
Em
|
Cmaj7
|
Am
|
Cmaj7
|
Em
Cmaj7
I lay down by the river
Am
Cmaj7
Em
The shadows moved across me, inch by inch
Cmaj7
And all that I heard
Am
Cmaj7
Was the war between the water and the bridge
Em
Turn to me (turn to me)
Cmaj7
Turn to me (turn to me)
Am
Turn to me (turn to me)
Cmaj7
Em
Turn and drink of me
Em
(Look away) Or look away
Cmaj7
(Look away) look away
Am
(Look away) look away
C
G
And never more think of me
G
C
Carry me
G
Em
Carry me
|
Cmaj7
|
Am
|
Cmaj7
|
Em
Cmaj7
I heard the many voices
Am
Cmaj7
C
Speaking to me from the depths below
Em
Cmaj7
This ancient wound, this catacomb
Am
Cmaj7
Beneath the whited snow
Em
Come to me (come to me)
Cmaj7
Come to me (come to me)
Am
Come to me (come to me)
Cmaj7
Em
Come and drink of me
Em
(Turn away) Or turn away
Cmaj7
(Turn away) turn away
Am
(Turn away) turn away
C
G
And never more think of me
G
C
Carry me (Carry me)
G
Em
Cmaj7
Carry me away
|
Cmaj7
|
Am
|
Cmaj7
|
Em
Cmaj7
Who will lay down their hammer?
Am
Cmaj7
Em
Who will put up their sword?
Cmaj7
Am
And pause to see the mystery
Cmaj7
G
The mystery of the word
G
C
Carry me (Carry me)
G
C
Carry me
Am
D
Carry me (Carry me)
Am
D
G
Carry me away
G
C
Carry me (Carry me)
G
C
Carry me
Am
D
Carry me (Carry me)
Am
D
G
Carry me away...
O Children
|
Em
|
C
|
Am
|
G
. .
D
|
Em
Pass me that lovely little gun
C
My dear, my darling one
Am
The cleaners are coming, one by one
G
D
(Em
)
You don't even want to let them start
|
Em
|
C
|
Am
|
G
. .
D
|
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
(Em
) C
Am
G
D
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh 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
(Em
) Cmaj7
Ooh children
G
D
Em
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Cmaj7
Children
G
D
(Em
)
Rejoice, rejoice
|
Em
|
C
|
Am
|
G
. .
D
|
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
(Em
) C
Am
G
D
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh 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
Ooh children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice
|
Em
|
C
|
Am
|
G
. .
D
|
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
And they're lining up to inspect you
(Em
) C
Am
G
D
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh children
Poor old Jim's white as a ghost
He's found the answer that we lost
We're all weeping now, weeping because
There ain't nothing we can do to protect you
Ooh children
Lift up your voice, lift up your voice
Children
Rejoice, rejoice
Hey little train, we're 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 stretch of the 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're 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're 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