Get ready for love!
Praise Him!
Get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Praise Him!
Get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Get ready!
Well, most of all nothing much
Ever really happens
And God rides high up in the ordinary sky
Until we find ourselves at our most distracted
And the miracle that was promised
Creeps quietly by
Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world
Calling every boy and girl
And I'm calling 'round the world
Get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Get ready! (Praise Him!)
Get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Praise Him!
The mighty wave their hankies from the
High-windowed palace
Sending grief and joy down in supportable doses
And we search high and low without
Mercy or malice
While the gate to the Kingdom swings
Shut and closes
Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world
Calling every boy and girl
Calling 'round the world
Praise Him 'til you've gotten
What you're praising Him for
Praise Him 'til you've gotten
What you're praising Him for
Then praise Him a little bit more
Yeah, praise Him a little bit more
Praise Him 'til you've gotten
What you're praising Him for
Praise Him 'til you've gotten
What you're praising Him for
Praise Him a little bit more
Yeah, praise Him a little bit more
Get ready for love!
Praise Him!
Get ready for love!
Get ready!
I searched the seven seas and I looked
Under the carpet
I browsed through the brochures
That govern the skies
Then I was just hanging around
Doing nothing I looked up to see
His face burned in the retina of your eyes
Calling every boy and girl
Calling all around the world
Calling every boy and girl
Calling 'round the world
Get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Yeah praise Him! (Get ready, get ready)
Yeah get ready for love! (Get ready, get ready)
Praise Him! (Praise him)
You have a heart and I have a key Lie back and let me unlock you Those heathens you hang with down by the sea All they want to do is defrock you I know a river, where we can dream It will swell up, burst it's banks, Babe, and rock you But if you're gonna dine with them cannibals Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten But I'm glad you've come around Here with your animals And your heart that is bruised but unbeaten And beating like a drum
I will sit like a bird on a fence Sing you songs with a happy ending Swoop down and tell you that it don't make sense To attack the very thing you're defending Didn't I just buy that dress for you? That pink paper pinafore that you keep mending Well, if you're gonna dine with the cannibals Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten But I'm glad you've come around Here with your animals And your heart that is banging and beating And banging like a gong
I can see that they've hurt you, dear Here is some moonlight to cloak us And I will never desert you here Unpetaled among the crocus Allow me, my love, to allay your fear As I swim, in and out of focus But if you're gonna dine with the cannibals Sooner or later, darling, you're gonna get eaten But I'm glad you've come around Here with your animals And your heart that is bruised but bleating And bleeding like a lamb Banging like a gong Beating like a drum
You went looking for nur, dear, Down by the sea You found some Iittle silver fish But you didn't find me I was hiding, dear, hiding all way I was hiding, dear, hiding all way
You went to the museum You climbed a spiral stair You searched for me all among The knowledgeable air I was hidden, babe, hiding all away I was hidden, dear, hiding all away
You entered the cathedral When you heard the solemn knell I was not sitting with the gargoyles I was not swinging from the hell I was hiding, dear, I was hiding all away I was hiding, dear, I was hiding all away
You asked an electrician If he'd seen me round his place He touched you with his fingers Sent sparks zapping out your face I was hidden, dear, hiding all away I was not there, dear, hiding all away
You went and asked your doctor To get some advice He shot you full of Pethidine And then he billed you twice
But I was hiding, dear, hiding all away But I was hiding, dear, hiding all away
You approached a high court judge You thought he'd be on the level He wrapped a rag around your face And beat you with his gavel I was hiding, habe, hiding all away I was hidden, dem, hiding all away
You asked at the local constabulary They said, he's up to his same old tricks They leered at you with their baby blues And rubbed jelly on their sticks I had to get out of there, babe, hiding all away I had to get out of there, dear, hiding all away
You searched through all my poets From Sappho through to Auden I saw the book fall from your hands As you slowly died of boredom I had been there, dear, But I was not there anymore I had been there, now I'm hiding all way
You walked into the ball of fame And approached my imitators Some were stuffing their faces with caviar Some were eating cold potatoes I was hiding, dear, hiding all away I was hiding, dear, hiding all away
You asked a famous cook if he'd seen me He opened his oven wide He basted you with butter, babe And made you crawl inside I was not in there, dear, hiding all away I was not in there, dear, hiding all away
You asked the butcher Who lifted up his cleaver Stuck his fist up your dress Said he must've been mad to leave you But I had to get away, dear, hiding all away I had to get away, dear, I was hidden all away
Some of us we hide away Some of us we don't Some will live to love another day And some of us won't But we all know there is a law And that law, it is love And we all know there's a war coming Coming from above
The wintergreen, the juniper
The cornflower and the chicory
Well all of the words you said to me
Are still vibrating in the air
The elm, the ash and the linden tree
The dark and deep, enchanted sea
The trembling moon and the stars unfurled
Well there she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes again
John Wilmot penned his poetry
Riddled with the pox
And Nabokov wrote on index cards
At a lectern, in his socks
St. John of the Cross he did his best stuff
Imprisoned in a box
And Johnny Thunders was half alive
When he wrote Chinese Rocks
Well, me, I'm lying here, with nothing in my ears
Me, I'm lying here, with nothing in my ears
Me, I'm lying here, for what seems years
I'm just lying on my bed with nothing in my head
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes again
Karl Marx squeezed his carbuncles
While writing Das Kapital
And Gauguin, he buggered off, man
And went all tropical
And Philip Larkin, he stuck it out
In a library in Hull
And Dylan Thomas, he died drunk in
St. Vincent's hospital
I will lie at your feet
I will kneel at your door
I will rock you to sleep
I will roll on the floor
And I'll ask for nothing
Nothing in this life
I'll will ask for nothing
Give me everlasting life
I just want to move the world
I just want to move the world
I just want to move the world
I just want to move
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes again
So if you got a trumpet, get on your feet
Brother, and blow it
If you've got a field, that don't yield
Well get up now and hoe it
I look at you and you look at me and
Deep in our hearts babe we know it
That you weren't much of a muse
But then I weren't much of a poet
I will be your slave
I will peel you grapes
Up on your pedestal with your ivory and apes
With your book of ideas with your alchemy
O come on send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send that stuff on down to me
Send it all around
Send it all around the world
'Cause here she comes, my beautiful girl
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes, my beautiful world
There she goes again
I was just a boy when I sat down
To watch the news on TV
I saw some ordinary slaughter
I saw some routine atrocity
My father said, don't look away
You got to be strong, you got to be bold, now
He said, that in the end it is beauty
That is going to save the world, now
And she moves among the sparrows
And she floats upon the breeze
She moves among the flowers
She moves something deep inside of me
I was walking around the flower show like a leper
Coming down with some kind of nervous hysteria
When I saw you standing there, green eyes, black hair
Up against the pink and purple wisteria
You said, "Hey, nature boy, are you looking at me
With some unrighteous intention?"
My knees went weak
I couldn't speak, I was having thoughts
That were not in my best interests to mention
And she moves among the flowers
And she floats upon the smoke
She moves among the shadows
She moves me with just one little look
You took me back to your place
And dressed me up in a deep sea diver's suit
You played the patriot, you raised the flag
And I stood at full salute
Later on we smoked a pipe that struck me dumb
And made it impossible to speak
As you closed in, in slow motion
Quoting Sappho, in the original Greek
She moves among the shadows
She floats upon the breeze
She moves among the candles
And we moved through the days
And through the years
Years passed by, we were walking by the sea
Half delirious
You smiled at me and said, babe
I think this thing is getting kind of serious
You pointed at something and said
Have you ever seen such a beautiful thing?
It was then that I broke down
It was then that you lifted me up again
She moves among the sparrows
And she walks across the sea
She moves among the flowers
And she moves something deep inside of me
She moves among the sparrows
And she floats upon the breeze
She moves among the flowers
And she moves right up close to me (something deep inside of me)
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 (oh yeah)
The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land (oh yeah)
I went to bed last night and my moral code got jammed (oh yeah)
I woke up this morning with a frappucino in my hand (oh yeah)
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 some way out of here?
I wake with the sparrows and I hurry off to work (oh yeah)
The need for validation, babe, gone completely berserk (oh yeah)
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 (abbatoir blues)
Down to my shoes (abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
C'mon, kind sir, let's walk outside
And breathe the autumn air
See the many that have lived and died
See the unending golden stair
See all of us that have come behind
Clutching at your hem
All the way from Arkansas
To your sweet and last amen
Let the bells ring
He is the real thing
Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing
Take this deafening thunder down
Take this bread and take this wine
Your passing is not what we mourn
But the world you left behind
Well, do not breathe, nor make a sound
And behold your mighty work
That towers over the uncaring ground
Of a lesser, darker world
Let the bells ring
He is the real thing
Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing
There are those of us not fit to tie
The laces of your shoes
Must remain behind to testify
What an elementary blues
So, let's walk outside, the hour is late
Through your crumbs and scattered shells
Where the awed and the mediocre wait
You're barely fit to ring the bells
Let the bells ring
He is the real thing
Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing
Farmer Emmerich went into his barn And found a cow suckling a serpent And a brown ape clanking a heavy chain Said Farmer Emmerich to the ape Never ask me to come into this barn again So Long Farewell So Long
Farmer Emmerich caught the serpent And the brown ape in a cage And took them into his house He fed the snake a vat of milk And when the ape rattled its chain He tossed the ape a mouse So Long Goodbye Farewell
The villagers found out that Farmer Emmerich Was nurturing a serpent And descended upon his farm All rabid in their blindness They dragged the snake outside Chopped it open with an axe And the ground soaked In the milk of human kindness So Long Farewell So Long
But the brown ape escaped And was heard to roam the ranges Clanking its heavy chain Down in the valley it sang to its friend Whom he may never see again
Orpheus sat gloomy in his garden shed
Wondering what to do
With a lump of wood, and 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
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 (oh mama, oh mama)
Orpheus strummed 'til 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 a thunderous yell
It smashed down hard on Orpheus' head
And it knocked him down a well
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Well, the well went down very deep
Very deep went down the well
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 tucked safe under his arm
His brains all down his head
Oh mama, oh mama
Eurydice appeared brindled in blood
She said to Orpheus
"If you play that f*cking 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
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
He stared deep into the abyss and said
This one is for Mama
Oh mama, oh mama
Oh mama, oh mama
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
Oh mama, oh mama (oh mama, oh mama)
It's up in the morning and on the downs
Little white clouds like gambolling lambs
And I am breathless over you
And the red-breasted robin beats his wings
His throat it trembles when he sings
For he is helpless before you
The happy hooded bluebells bow
And bend their heads all a-down
Heavied by the early morning dew
At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook
The fishes leap up to take a look
For they are breathless over you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your mind
Still your soul
For still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
The wind circles among the trees
And it bangs about the new-made leaves
For it is breathless without you
The fox chases the rabbit around
The rabbit hides beneath the ground
For he is defenceless without you
The sky of daytime dies away
And all the earthly things they stop to play
For we are all breathless without you
I listen to my juddering bones
And the blood in my veins, the wind in my lungs
And I am breathless without you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your soul
Still your mind
Still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
Stay by me, stay by me
You are the one, my only true love
The butcherbird makes its noise
And it asks you to agree
With its brutal nesting habits
And its pointless savagery
Now, the nightingale sings to you
And it raises up the ante
I put one hand on your round ripe heart
And the other down your panties
Everything is falling, dear
Everything is wrong
It's just history repeating itself
And babe, you turn me on
Like a light bulb, babe
Like a song
Well you race naked through the wilderness
And you torment the birds and the bees
You leapt into the abyss, but find
It only goes up to your knees
I move stealthily from tree to tree
And I shadow you for hours
I make like I'm a little deer
Grazing on the flowers
Everything is collapsing, dear
All moral sense has gone
It's just history repeating itself
And babe, you turn me on
Like an idea, babe
Like an atom bomb
We stand awed inside a clearing
We do not make a sound
The crimson snow falls all about
Carpeting the ground
Everything is falling, dear
All rhyme and reason gone
It's just history repeating itself
And, babe, you turn me on
It's difficult
It's very tough
I said to the man who'd been sleeping rough
To sit within a fragrant breeze
All among the nodding trees
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
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
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
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
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Rain it down on the wife and the kids
Rain it down on the house where we live
Rain it down until you got nothing left to give
And rain that ever-loving stuff down on me
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Easy money
Through the windswept coastal trees
Where the dead come rising from the sea
With a teddy-bear clamped between her knees
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 thee
Well I'm gonna ask you, 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
Once I was your hearts 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
Well 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
And I've nailed shut the windows and locked the doors
There is no escape, you see
And I chase you up and down the stairs
Well, under tables and over chairs
Well 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 go
Hey! Ho!
Well baby, no no no
Hey! Ho!
Oh don't you go
All supernatural on me
Supernaturally
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
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
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
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
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
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
I lay down by the river
The shadows moved across me, inch by inch
And all that I heard
Was the war between the water and the bridge
Turn to me (turn to me)
Turn to me (turn to me)
Turn to me (turn to me)
Turn and drink of me
(Look away) look away
(Look away) look away
(Look away) look away
And never more think of me
Carry me
Carry me
I heard the many voices
Speaking to me from the depths below
This ancient wound
This catacomb
Beneath the whited snow
Come to me (come to me)
Come to me (come to me)
Come to me (come to me)
Come and drink of me
(Turn away) turn away
(Turn away) turn away
(Turn away) turn away
And never more think of me
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me) away
Who will lay down their hammer?
Who will put up their sword? (turn to me)
And pause to see (turn to me)
The mystery (turn to me)
Oh the mystery of the Word
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me)
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me) away
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me)
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me) away
(Carry me) carry me
(Carry me)
Pass me that lovely little gun
My dear, my darling one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don't even want to let them start
They're 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
(Oh, 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
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
Come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They're gathering round with all my friends
We're older now, and the light is dim
And you are only just beginning
Oh, children
We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal-clear
It's roundabout and it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings
(Oh, 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
And they're lining up to inspect you
Oh 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
(Oh, 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)
And 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 (children)
It's beyond my wildest expectation (oh, children)
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
The train ain't even left the station (oh, children)
(Hey, little train, wait for me)
(I once was blind but now I see)
Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album of seventeen songs.
The album was produced by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in March-April 2004 and Nick Cave used The Bad Seeds line up of Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis, and James Johnston. It was the first album by the group for which Blixa Bargeld did not perform - English guitarist and organist Johnston, of the group Gallon Drunk, replaced Bargeld. Cave decided to split drumming duties for the two parts, with Sclavunos on Abattoir Blues and Wydler on The Lyre of Orpheus. According to Launay, the whole album was completed in twelve days.
The album's release was supported by the Abattoir Blues Tour, which travelled through Europe from 2 November to 5 December. In January 2007 a double live album and DVD was issued as The Abattoir Blues Tour. Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus's last track, "O Children", was featured in the 2010 film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, and the song is referenced as an achievement in Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7.
In March 2005, to complement the success of the double album, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released B-Sides & Rarities, a three-disc, 56-track collection of B-sides, rarities, and tracks that had appeared on film soundtracks.