Nick Cave : Wild God

On the shore of the lake, an old man sat And watched a woman bathing With its golden touch, the light was such That the moment was worth saving (And he sang the song of the lake) And he sang the song of the lake The song of the lake (The song of the lake) And all the king's horses and all (The song of the lake) Ah, never mind, never mind And he knew that he would dissolve If he followed her into the lake But he also knew that if he remained upon the shore He would, in time, evaporate (And he sang the song of the lake) He sang the song of the lake The song of the lake (The song of the lake) And all the king's horses (The song of the lake) Ah, never mind, never mind And he knew that even though he had found Heaven Such as described in the ancient scrolls Still, he felt the drag of Hell Upon his old and mortal soul (And he sang the song of the lake) And he sang the song of the lake (The song of the lake) And all the king's horses (The song of the lake) Oh Lord, never mind, never mind For every evil under the sun If there be one, seek it till you find For there's either a remedy or there is none And if there is none, never mind, never mind Never mind, never mind Nah, never mind Never mind Oh never mind, never mind, never mind 'Cause all the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put us back together again Oh my darling, well, where will we go now? (And he sang the song of the lake) Oh my darling, where do we go? Ah, never mind, never mind And what do we do now? (And he sang the song of the lake) Oh, never mind, never mind Oh, my sweet darling, never mind

Wild God

Once upon a time a wild god zoomed All through his memory in which he was entombed It was rape and pillage in the retirement village But in his mind he was a man of great virtue and courage So he flew out the window with his long trailing hair The smoke from the bodies went straight up in the air He was a wild god searching for what all old wild gods are searching for And he flew through the dying city like a prehistoric bird He went searching for the girl down on Jubilee Street But she'd died in a bedsit in 1993 So he flew to the top of the world and looked around And said where are my people to bring your spirit down? A wild god searching for a faraway girl Who was basically a mirage that nevertheless loomed large She would hang on to the rail as he blew through the room And make love with a kind of efficient gloom And the people on the ground cried when does it start? And the wild god says it starts with the heart, with the heart, with the heart And the people on the ground cried when does it end? The wild god says well it depends, but mostly never ends 'Cause I'm a wild god flying and a wild god swimming And an old sick god dying and crying and singing Bring your spirit down Oh, we're wild gods, baby, we're wild gods Yeah, bring your spirit down Well, he's moving through the flames of anarchy He's moving through the winds of tyranny And the sweet, sweet tears of liberty Yeah, moving round the world He's moving through your body like a prehistoric bird He's moving round the world O Lord, if you're feeling lonely and if you're feeling blue And you just don't know what to do Bring your spirit down Oh we're wild gods, baby, we're wild gods I'm a wild god, baby, I'm a wild god! Here we go! We're going to the cradle of Africa We're going to Russia We're going to China To the United States of America! Yeah, moving around the world Yeah, moving like a great, big, beautiful bird Moving around the world Yeah, he swims to end of the rotting pier He swims to end of his rotting ideas Swim to the hymn and swim to the prayer And bring your spirit down I'm a wild god, baby, I'm a wild god Here we go! Yeah, here we go!

Frogs

Ushering in the week he knelt down Crushed his brother's head in with a bone It's my great privilege Oh babe, to walk you home In the Sunday rain Hop inside my coat In the Sunday rain The frogs are jumping in the gutters Uh, leaping to God, amazed of love And amazed of pain Amazed to be back in the water again In the Sunday rain In the Sunday rain Gets you right down to your soul Oh Lord, oh Lord The children in the heavens Jumping for joy, jumping for love And opening the sky above So, take that gun out of your hand 'Cause all will be well say the bells It's Sunday morning and I'm holding your hand Amazed of love and amazed of pain Amazed to be back in the water Back in the water again Take that gun out of your hand In the Sunday rain Frog-marching you home, babe Home to bed, yeah, in the Sunday rain Take that gun out of your hand Lord, kill me! In the Sunday rain Kill me! Kill me! In the Sunday rain Hop inside my coat It's Sunday morning and I'm holding your hand Frog-marching us home to a bed made of tears Kris Kristofferson walks by, kicking a can In a shirt he hasn't washed for years Hop inside my coat Hop inside my coat

Joy

I woke up this morning with the blues all around my head I woke up this morning with the blues all around my head I felt like someone in my family was dead I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees Called out all around me, said, "Have mercy on me, please" "Have mercy on me, please" And over by the window, the voice came low and hollow Over by the window, a voice came low and hollow Spoke into my pain, into my yearning sorrow Spoke into my pain "Who was it?" I cried, "What wild ghost has come in agitation?" "Who is it?" I cried, "What wild ghost has come in agitation? "It's half past midnight! Oh, why you disturb me so late?" Then I saw a movement Then I saw a movement around Then I saw a movement around my narrow bed I saw a movement around my narrow bed Oh, a ghost in giant sneakers, laughing, stars around his head Have mercy on me Sat on a narrow bed, this flaming boy Who sat on a narrow bed, this flaming boy He said, "We've all had too much sorrow, now is the time for joy" And all across the world, they shout bad words, they shout angry words All across the world, they shout out their angry words About the end of love, yet the stars stand above the earth Bright, triumphant metaphors of love Bright, triumphant metaphors of love Blind us all who care to stand and look beyond and care to stand and look beyond above And I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees I called all around me, said, "Have mercy on me, please" "Have mercy on me, please" "Have mercy on me, please" "God have mercy on me, please" For joy, for joy, for joy For joy, for joy, for joy Jumping for joy For joy, for joy, for joy For joy, for joy, for joy Oh, for joy Oh, have mercy on me, please Joy, joy, joy

Final Rescue Attempt

The last time you came around here, it was to rescue me You arrived just in time with your customary flair You rode through the rain all the way from Castellain With the wind, and the wind, oh, the wind, ah, the wind in your hair After that nothing ever really hurt again Nothing ever really hurt, not even ordinary pain As we'd sit, you and me, by the great aching sea In the rain, in the rain, and the rain, oh, the rain, oh, the rain And I will always love you With the wind, with the wind, with the wind Oh, the wind in your hair And ah, who are these gods that you now defend? And what purpose do they serve now at the end of time? That we lay on our beds, with the rain on our heads And my hand, searching for your hand, searching for my hand Searching for your hand, searching for mine And I will always love you And I will always love you And I will always, I will always love you And I will always love you

Conversion

There was a little place in a pretty row Where we mostly did not go And next to the place in a field of trees Were stones stacked on stones for ten centuries Ooh ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh ooh One time in the field in the middle of the night An old god shambled beneath the sodium light And the whole town gathered at the fence With looks on their faces worse than grief itself Ooh ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh-ooh ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh ooh ooh Now then, a girl across the street with long dark hair Knelt among the stones and the mystical flare And the old god drew her into him like a flame I've never seen you so beautiful as that again Touched by the spirit, touched by the flame I never ever really saw you so beautiful as that again Touched by the spirit, touched by the flame And these voices they never ever stopped again Touched by the spirit, touched by the flame And I never really ever hurt again Not even ordinary pain, not even ordinary pain Touched by the spirit, touched by the flame Oh, you're beautiful, you're beautiful again Touched by the spirit, touched by the flame Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!

Cinnamon Horses

I told my friends that life was sweet I told my friends that life was very sweet And the cinnamon horses In the turpentine trees I told my friends some things were good That love would endure if it could And the cinnamon horses Stroll through the castle ruins I said we can't love someone Without hurting someone And a dozen white vampires Under a strawberry moon You said that You said that You said that, oh You said that You said that A strawberry moon 'Cause love asks for nothing But love costs everything And the cinnamon horses Dance beneath a strawberry moon I said we should not hurt one another Still we hurt one another And a dozen white vampires Sun themselves in the castle ruins You said that You said that You said that, oh You said that You said that You said that, oh I told my friends that life was sweet I told my friends life was very sweet You said that You said that In the castle ruins I told my friends that life was good That love would endure if it could You said that You said that You said that, oh You said that You said that You said that, oh You said that You said that You said that, oh You said that You said that You said that, ooh

Long Dark Night

I was long inside a dream, I could not get loose I will tell you it, although there is little use To tell a dream when dreaming is all you ever do Things were not so good, I can't make light of it My poor soul, it was having a dark night of it It was a long night, a week, maybe a year Maybe a long dark night is coming down Maybe a long dark night is coming down Through the door of my dream burst No zombie, no ogre, no devil there But a flying man with long trailing hair Who perched on the iron rail of my bed Oh Lord, combing his long white hair, saying my name How could he know when I did not even know my name? Maybe a long dark night is coming down Maybe a long dark night, my precious one Maybe a long dark night is rolling round my eyes Oh Lord The man who took me to be from elsewhere When I too inhabited the earthly sphere Leant down and struck me with his long trailing hair Maybe a long dark night is coming down Maybe a long dark night, my precious one Maybe a long dark night is rolling around my head Oh Lord

O Wow O Wow (How Wonderful She Is)

She rises in advance of her panties I can confirm that God actually exists She turns and smiles but never ever scantily O wow, o wow, how wonderful she is Well, the horses, they have kicked down the stable And the rabbits have put carrots in their ears And her coloured crayons dance upon the table O wow, o wow, how wonderful she feels The country doctor whistles across the meadow And the schoolboy, he hops up and says, "Gee whiz!" The dogs, they are all barking at their shadows O wow, o wow, how wonderful she is O wow! O wow! Well, nothing could compare Her friends, now dead, their spectral chins all nod And they braid a band of violets through her hair O wow, o wow, how wonderful she was How wonderful she is