Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - When I First Came to Town Lyrics

When I first came to town
All the people gathered round
They bought me drinks
Oh Lord, how they quickly changed their tune

When I first came to town
People took me round from end to end
Like someone may take around a friend
Oh how quickly they changed their tune

Suspicion and dark murmurs surround me
Everywhere I go they confound me
As though the blood on my hands
Is there for every citizen to see

Oh sweet Jesus
There is no turning back
There is always one more town
A little further down the track

And from my window, across the tracks
I watch the juicers burn their fires
And in that light
Their faces leer at me
How I wish they'd just let me be

When I first came to town
Their favors were for free
Now even the doors of the whores of this town
Are closed to me

I search the mirror
And I try to see
I search the mirror
And I try to see
Why the people of this town
Have washed their hands of me

Oh sweet Jesus
There is no turning back
There is always one more town
A little further down the track

Oh lord, every goddamn turn I take
I fear the noose, and I fear the stake
For there ain't a bone
They did not break
In all the towns I've been before

Well those that sin against me are snuffed out
I know that from every day that I live
Goddamn the day that I was born
The night that forced me from the womb
And goddamn this town
For I am leaving now
But one day I will return
And the people of this town will surely see
Just how quickly the tables turn

Oh sweet Jesus
This really is the end
There is always one more town
A little further round the bend