Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey Album Lyrics

---

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 meals
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 truth.
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 I
tatooed 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
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 rebel blood.

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 truth.
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 burning
And I think my head is glowing
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 glowing
And I think my head is smoking
And in a way I'm hoping
To be done with all this looks of disbelief.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway there was no proof
Nor a motive why.

And the mercy seat is smoking
And I think my head is melting
And in a way I'm helping
To be done with all this twisted of the truth.
A lie for a lie
And a truth for a truth
And I've got nothing left to lose
And I'm not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is melting
And I think my blood is boiling
And in a way I'm spoiling
All the fun with all this truth and consequence.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
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 life for a life
And a truth for a truth
And anyway there was no proof
But I'm not afraid to tell a 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 truth.
An eye for an eye
And a truth for a truth
And anyway I told the truth
But I'm afraid I told a lie.

 

---

Up Jumped The Devil


O My O My
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mother died
I was cut from her belly
With a stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife

Who's that younder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that younder all in flames
Up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim

O poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villians part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the of a dead nun's heart

Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept

O no O no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope

Who's that younder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that younder laughing at me
Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3

Ha-Ha Ha Ha
How lucky we were
We hit the cathouse
And sampled their whares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
One night I spat out
My lucky stars

Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said "Here is your man and I got a proof"

O no don't go O no
O slow down Joe
The righteous part
I straight as an arrow
Take a walk
And you'll find it too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me

Who's that hanging from the gallow tree
His eyes are hollow but he looks like me
Who's that swinging from the gallow tree
Up jumped the Devil and took my soul from me

Down we go Down we go Down we go
The Devil and me Down we go down down down
Hell fire and flames Down we go Down we go
To Eternity Down we go We go down down down
Down we go we go down down down
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
We go down down down down down ad inferno

 

---

Deanna


O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna!
O DEANNA
You know you are my friend, yeah
O DEANNA
And I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love or money
I'm down here for your soul

No carpet on the floor
And the winding cloth holds many moths
Around your Ku Klux furniture
I cum of death-head in your frock
We discuss the murder plan
We discuss murder and the murder act
Murder takes the wheel of your Cadillac
And death climbs in the back

O DEANNA
This is a car
O DEANNA
This is a gun
O DEANNA
And this a day number one
O DEANNA
Our little crimeworn histories
Black and smoking christmas trees
And honey, it ain't mystery
Why you're a mystery to me

We will eat out of their pantries
And their parlours
Ashy leaving in their beds
And we'll unload into their heads
On this mean season
This little angel that I squeezin'
She ain't been mean to me

O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
You are my friend and my partner
O DEANNA
On this house on the hill
O DEANNA
And I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love or money
I'm down here for your soul

O DEANNA
I am a-knocking
O DEANNA
With my toolbox and my stocking
O DEANNA
And I'll meet you on the corner
O DEANNA
Yes, you point it like a finger
O DEANNA
And squeeze its little thing
O DEANNA
Feel its kick, hear its bang
And let no worry about its issue
Don't worry about where its been
and don't worry about where it hits
Cause it just ain't yours to sin

O DEANNA
No it just ain't your to sin
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna
O DEANNA
And we ain't getting any younger
O DEANNA
And I don't intend gettin' any older
O DEANNA
The sun a hump at my shoulder
O DEANNA
O Deanna!
O DEANNA
Sweet Deanna
O DEANNA
And I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love of money
I'm down here for your soul

 

---

Watching Alice


Alice wakes
It is morning
She is yawning
As she walks about the room
Her hair falls down her breast
She is naked and it is June

Standing at the window
I wonder if she knows that I can see

Watching Alice rise year after year
Up in her palace, she's captive there

Alice's body
Is golden brown
Her hair hangs down
As she stoops to conquer me
First she pulls her stocking on
And then the church bell chimes
Alice climbes into her uniform
The zippers on the side
Watching Alice dressing in her room
It's so depressing, it's cruel

Watching Alice dressing in her room
It's so depressing, it's true

 

---

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

 

---

City Of Refuge


You better run You better run and run and run
You better run You better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run You better run
You better run to the City of Refuge

You stand before your maker
In a state of shame
Bacause your robes are covered in mud
While your kneel at the feet
Of a woman of the street
The gutters will run with blood
They will run with blood!

You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge

In the days of madness
My brother, my sister
When you're dragged toward the Hell-mouth
You will beg at the end
But there ain't gonna be one, friend
For the grave will spew you out
It will spew you out!

You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge
You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge

You'll be working in the darkness
Against your fellow man
And you'll find you're called to come forth
So you'll scrub and you'll scrub
But the trouble is, bud
The blood it won't wash off
No, it won't come off!

You better run, you better run
You better run to the City of Refuge

You better run, you better run
You better run and run and run
You better run to the City of Refuge

 

---

Slowly Goes The Night


Lover, lover, goodbye
So slowly goes the night
I trace the print of your body with my hand
Like the map of some forbidden land
I trace the ghosts of your bones
With my trembling hand
Dark is my night
But darker is my day yeah
I must've been blind
Out of my mind
Not to read the warning signs
How goes it?
It goes lonely
Goes slowly

So slowly goes the night
Ten lonely days, ten lonely nights
I watch the moon get flayed anew
Until the moom becomes the skinning tool
I send the skins of my sins out to cover and comfort you
I know of a Heaven
And honey I know of a Hell yeah
I hang my head
In my bed
And remember what you said
"One evening, I'm leaving"
And I laughed and checked her breathing
And said darling

Go slowly through the knight
O baby, I feel the heal of time
I wake to find you sitting here
Cutting tangels out of your hair
Singing a song that's all wrong
Hey, but that's alright, I don't care
O darling forgive me
For all the misery yeah
I embrace an empty space
And your laughing song it fades
Where goes it?
It goes some place
Where it's lonely

And black as the night
Come back, darling and put things right
I hang my head and cry cry cry
Darling, all night I try
To cease on a reason for this mad mad season
The nights, they are so long now
I can't remember it being light
Call it sleep, call it death, call it what you like
But only sleep, dear
Only sleep brings you back to life yeah
I hang my head
I toss and I sweat
I never never can forget
How goes it?
I'm going, but slowly slowly going
And we both know that it's gonna be alright

But it ain't you who has to cry cry cry
Ten lonely days, ten lonely nights
Since you left my side side side

 

---

Sunday's Slave


Sunday's got a slave
Monday's got one too
Sunday's got a slave
Monday's got one too
Our sufferings are countless
Our pleasures are motley few
Spend all day digging my grave
Now go get Sunday's slave

Tuesday sleeps in a stable
Wednesday's in a chains
Tuesday gathers up the crumbs under the table
Wednesday dare not complain
My heart has collapsed on the tracks of a run-a-way train
Just whisper his name
And here comes Sunday's slave

The hands in the stable are willing and able to pay
If you feel at a loss, man, just who is the boss-man
Ask the blood of one of its bad days
For his nerve is to serve but the sevice is a mockery
He insists that he piss in your fist
But he still takes the money anyway
The master's a bastard
But don't tell Sunday's slave

Thursday's angered the master
O.K. so Friday's gonna pay
Thursday's angered the master
Yeah, so Friday's gonna pay
One night on the rack and he's back saddling up Saturday
You can only whisper his name
But not on Sundays
Never on Sundays
O Not on Sunday's slave

 

---

Sugar Sugar Sugar


Sugar Sugar Sugar
That man is bad
The road he drives you down
O sugar its a drag

That road it twists
That road is crossed
Its down that road
A lot of little girls go lost

Sugar Sugar Sugar
Keep on driving on
Until the City of right
Becomes the City of wrong

That stretch is long
You'll sleep and slide
That stretch will find you
Gagged and tied

The hunter lies
In a lowly ditch
His eyes they sting
And his fingers twitch

You'll be his queen for the night
But the morning you'll wake
With the Lords and high ladies
Of the bottom of the lake

Sugar sugar sugar
That man is wild

And sugar, you know
That you're merely a child

He will laugh
And hang your sheets to see
The tokens of your virginity

Sugar sugar sugar
Honey you're so sweet
And beside you baby
Nothing can complete

Sugar sugar sugar
Honey your so sweet
But beside you baby
A bad man sleeps

You better pray baby
Pray baby, pray baby

You better pray
You better pray, baby
Pray, baby, pray baby
You better pray baby

Sugar sugar sugar
That man is bad
And that's the bottom baby
Coming right up ahead

You can smell his fear
You can smell his love
As he wipes his mouth
On your altar cloth

Sugar sugar sugar
Try to understand
I'm an angel of God
I'm your guardian

He smells you innocence
And like a dog he comes
And like all the dogs he is
I shut him down

Sugar sugar sugar
I can't explain
Must I kill that cocksucker
Everyday

You better pray baby, pray baby, pray baby
You better pray your daddy he ain't far away
You better pray baby pray baby pray baby
You better pray your daddy's come to take you away
You better pray baby, pray baby, pray baby
You better pray o tender prey baby tender prey
You better pray tender pray baby tender prey

 

---

New Morning


One morn I awakened
A new sun was shining
The sky was a Kingdom
All covered in blood
The moon and the stars
Where the troops that lay conquered
Like fruit left to wither
Poor spiritual food

And the spears of bright sun
All brave with it conquest
Did hover unearthly
In banners of fire
I kneit in the garden
Awash with the dawning
And a voice came so brightly
I covered my eyes

Thank you for giving
This bright new morning
So steeped seemed the evening
In darkness and blood
There'll be no sadness
There'll be no sorrow
There'll be no road too narrow
There'll be a new day
And it's today
For us