NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

LET LOVE IN (1994)

  1. Do You Love Me?
  2. Nobody's Baby Now
  3. Loverman
  4. Jangling Jack
  5. Red Right Hand
  6. I Let Love In
  7. Thirsty Dog
  8. Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore
  9. Lay Me Low
10. Do You Love Me? (Part 2)

NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS

LET LOVE IN

1. DO YOU LOVE ME?

I found her on a night of fire and noise
Wild bells rang in a wild sky
I knew from that moment on
That I'd love her till the day that I died
And I kissed away a thousand tears
My lady of the various sorrows
Some begged, some borrowed, some stolen
Some kept safe tomorrow
On an endless night, silver star spangled
The bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Like I love you?

She was given to me to put things right
And I stacked all my accomplishments beside her
Still I seemed so obsolete and small
I found God and all His devils inside her
In my bed she cast the blizzard out
A mock sun blazed upon her head
So completely filled with light she was
Her shadow fanged and hairy and mad
Our love-lines grew hopelessly tangled
And the bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Like I love you?

She had a heart full of love and devotion
She had a mind full of tyranny and terror
Well, I try, I do, I really try
But I just err, baby, I do, I err
So come find me, my darling one
I'm down to the grounds, the very dregs
Ah, here she comes, blocking the sun
Blood running down the inside of her legs
The moon in the sky is battered and mangled
And the bells from the chapel go jingle-jangle
Jingle-jangle, jingle-jangle, jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Like I love you?

All things move toward their end
I knew before I met her that I would lose her
I swear I made every effort to be good to her
I made every effort not to abuse her
Crazy bracelets on her wrists and her ankles
And the bells from the chapel go jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Like I love you?

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Like I love you?

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

2. NOBODY'S BABY NOW

I've searched the Holy Books
I tried to unravel the mystery of Jesus Christ, the Saviour
I've read the poets and the analysts
Searched through the books on human behaviour
I travelled this world around
For an answer that refused to be found
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now

I loved her then and I guess I love her still
Hers is the face I see when a certain mood moves in
She lives in my blood and skin
Her wild feral stare, her dark hair
Her winter lips as cold as stone
I was her man
But there are some things love won't allow
I held her hand, but I don't hold it now
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now

This is her dress that I loved best
With the blue quilted violets across the breast
And these are my many letters
Torn to pieces by her long-fingered hand
I was her cruel-hearted man
And though I've tried to lay her ghost down
She's moving through me, even now
I don't know why and I don't know how
But she's nobody's baby now
She's nobody's baby now
Nobody's baby now
She's nobody's baby now.

3. LOVERMAN

There's a devil waiting outside your door
How much longer?
There's a devil waiting outside your door
How much longer?
It is bucking and braying and pawing at the floor
How much longer?
And he's howling with pain and crawling up the walls
How much longer?
There's a devil waiting outside your door
How much longer?
He's weak with evil and broken by the world
How much longer?
He's shouting your name and he's asking for more
How much longer?
Give me more, give me more
There's a devil waiting outside your door
How much longer?

Loverman! Since the world began
Forever, amen
Till the end of time
Take off that dress
I'm coming down
I'm your loverman
'Cause I am what I am what I am what I am

L is for LOVE, baby
O is for ONLY you that I do
V is for loving VIRTUALLY all that you are
E is for loving almost EVERYTHING that you do
R is for RAPE me
M is for MURDER me
A is for ANSWERING all of my prayers
N is for KNOWING your loverman's going to be the answer to all of yours

Loverman! Till the bitter end
While empires burn down
Forever and ever and ever and ever
Loverman
So help me, baby
So help me
'Cause I am what I am what I am what I am what I am
I'll be your loverman!

There's a devil crawling along your floor
How much longer?
There's a devil crawling along your floor
How much longer?
With a trembling heart, he's coming through your door
How much longer?
With his straining sex in his jumping paw
How much longer?
There's a devil crawling along your floor
How much longer?
And he's old and he's stupid and he's hungry and he's sore
How much longer?
And he's lame and he's blind and he's dirty and he's poor

Give him more (8 x)
How much longer?
There's a devil crawling along your floor
How much longer?

Loverman! Now here I stand
Forever, amen
'Cause I am what I am what I am what I am
Forgive me, baby
My hands are tied
And I got no choice
No, I got no choice at all

I'll say it again
L is for LOVE
O is for O, yes, I do
V is for VIRTUE, so I ain't gonna hurt you
E is for EVEN if you want me to
R is for RENDER unto me, baby
M is for that which is MINE
A is for ANY old how, darling
N is for ANY old time

I'll be your loverman!
I got a masterplan
To take off your dress
And be your man
Now seize the throne
And seize the mantle
Seize the crown
'Cause I am what I am what I am what I am what I am
Your loverman!

There's a devil lying by your side
How much longer?
You might think he's asleep but look at his eyes
How much longer?
He wants you, baby, to be his bride
How much longer?
There's a devil lying by your side
How much longer?

Loverman! Loverman!

4. JANGLING JACK

Jangling Jack
Goes Yackety Yack
Visits the home of the brave
Hails a fat yellow cab
Jack wanna celebrate
Jack wanna big drink
Driver drops him at a bar
Called the Rinky Dink
Jack pushes through the door
And crosses the floor
Tips his hat to a man
Grinning in the corner
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do

Says: "I'm Jangling Jack
I go Do da do
I wanna Rinky Dink Special
I wanna little umbrella too"
Jack flops on his stool
Sees the grinning man laugh
So Jack laughs back
Jack raises his glass
Says: "God bless this country
And everything in it
The losers and the winners
The good guys and the sinners"
The grinning man says: "Buddy
It's all Yackety Yack"
Whips out a little black pistol
Shoots a bullet in Jack
Ah yeah
Jangling Jack, do da do do da do
Jangling Jack, do da do do da do
Jangling Jack, do da do do da do
Jangling Jack, do da do do da do

Jangling Jack flies off his seat
Crashes through the door
Lands in a heap on the street
Hears his mother's voice
Going: "Do da do"
Jack is shouting
"Mummy, mummy, mummy is that you?"
He sees the berserk city
Sees the dead stacked in piles
Sees the screaming crowd
Screams: "Where am I?"
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do

Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do

Well, Jangling Jack
As a matter of fact
Crawls through the crowd
Back into the bar
Jack crawls to his stool
Jack drags himself up
Falls back down on his arse
In a puddle of blood
Going: "Goodbye Mummy
Goodbye, bye"
Jack doubles over
And he vomits and dies
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do
Going do da do
Oh yeah
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do
Jangling, Jack do da do do da do.

5. RED RIGHT HAND

Take a little walk to the edge of town
Go across the tracks
Where the viaduct looms, like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires, in the humming wires
Hey man, you know you're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge, past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes a tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with a red right hand

He'll wrap you in his arms, tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams it took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole, heal your shrinking soul
But there won't be a single thing that you can do
He's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name
Through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat his red right hand

You don't own money? Get you some
You don't have no car? Get you one
You don't have no self-respect, you feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy, cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio and the bowery and the slum

His shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his red right hand

You'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but he ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head, on the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning you to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god, he's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by his red right hand.

6. I LET LOVE IN

Despair and deception, love's ugly little twins
Came a-knocking on my door, I let them in
Darling, you're the punishment for all of my former sins

I let love in
I let love in

The door it opened just a crack, but love was shrewd and bold
My life flashed before my eyes, it was a horror to behold
A life-sentence sweeping confetti from the floor of a concrete hole

I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in

Well, I've been bound and gagged and I've been terrorised
And I've been castrated and I've been lobotomised
But never has my tormentor come in such a cunning disguise

I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in

O Lord, tell me what I done
Please don't leave me here alone
Where are my friends?
My friends are gone

O Lord, tell me what I done
Please don't leave me here alone
Where are my friends?
My friends are gone

I let love in
I let love in

So if you're sitting all alone and hear a-knocking at you door
The air is full of promises, well buddy, you've been warned
Far worse to be love's lover than the lover that love has scorned

I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in
I let love in.

7. THIRSTY DOG

I know you've heard it all before
But I'm sorry for this three year war
For the setting up of camps and wire and trenches
I'm sorry for the other night
I know sorry, it don't make it right
I'm sorry for things I can't even mention

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very, sorry in the Thirsty Dog

You keep nailing me back into my box
I'm sorry I keep popping back up
With my crazy mouth and jangling jester's cap
I'm sorry I ever wrote that book
I'm sorry for the way I look
But there ain't a lot that I can do about that

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry about the hospital
Some things are unforgivable
That things simply cannot be forgiven
I was not equipped to know how to care
And on the occasions I came up for air
I saw my life and wondered what the hell I had been living

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very very sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry about all your friends
I hope they'll speak to me again
I said before I'd pay for all the damages
I'm sorry it's just rotten luck
I'm sorry I've forgotten how to fuck
It's just that I think my heart and soul are kind of famished

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog

Forgive me, baby, but don't worry
Love is always having to say you're sorry
And I am, from my head down to my shoes
I'm sorry that I'm always pissed
I'm sorry that I exist
And when I look into your eyes I can see you're sorry too

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm sitting feeling sorry in the Thirsty Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog

I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very thirsty in the Sorry Dog
I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry
I'm feeling very sorry in the Thirsty Dog.

8. AIN'T GONNA RAIN ANYMORE

Once there came a storm in the form of a girl
It blew to pieces my snug little world
Sometimes I swear I can still hear her howl
Down through the wreckage and the ruins

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone

Now the storm has passed over me
I'm left to drift on a dead calm sea
And watch her forever through the cracks in the beams
Nailed across the doorways of the bedrooms of my dreams

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
Baby gone

Now I got no one to hold
Now I am all alone again
It ain't too hot, but it ain't too cold
And there is no sign of rain

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone
And I'm
Here I'm on my own

She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
She ain't coming back no more
Say what you will, I don't care

And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby's gone, yeah
And it ain't gonna rain anymore
Now my baby has gone.

9. LAY ME LOW

They're gonna lay me low
Lay me low
They're gonna sink me in the snow
Lay me low
They're gonna throw back their heads and crow
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

They're gonna jump and shout
Lay me low
They're gonna wave their arms about
Lay me low
All the stories will come out
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

All the stars will glow bright
Lay me low
And my friends will give up the fight
Lay me low
They'll see my work in a different light
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

They'll try telephoning my mother
Lay me low
But they'll end up getting my brother
Lay me low
Who'll spill the story on some long-gone lover
Lay me low
That I hardly know

Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And I'll show you how it works
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well, do it now, don't care how
Take your final bow
Make a stand
Take my hand
And blow it all to hell

They gonna inform the police chief
Lay me low
Who'll breathe a sigh of relief
Lay me low
He'll say I was a malanderer, a badlander and a thief
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

They will interview my teachers
Lay me low
Who'll say I was one of God's sorrier creatures
Lay me low
There'll print informative six-page features
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

They'll bang a big old gong
Lay me low
The motorcade will be ten miles long
Lay me low
The world will join together for a farewell song
Lay me low
When they put me down below
Lay me low

They'll sound a fluegelhorn
Lay me low
And the sea will rage, and the sky will storm
Lay me low
All man and beast will mourn
Lay me low
When I go
When I go

Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And we can watch this damn thing turn
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now
Do it now
Take a long last bow
Take my hand
Make a stand
And blow it all to hell

Lay me low
When I go.

10. DO YOU LOVE ME? (PART 2)

Onward! And onward! And onward I go
Where no man before could be bothered to go
Till the soles of my shoes are shot full of holes
And it's all downhill with a bullet
This ramblin' and rovin' has taken its course
I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses
And the city streets crack and a great hole forces
Me down with my soapbox, my pulpit
The theatre ceiling is silver star spangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

There's a man in the theatre with girlish eyes
Who's holding my childhood to ransom
On the screen there's a death
There's a rustle of cloth
And a sickly voice calling me handsome
There's a man in the theatre with sly girlish eyes
On the screen there's an ape, a gorilla
There's a groan, there's a cough, there's a rustle of cloth
And a voice that stinks of death and vanilla
This is a secret, mauled and mangled
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

The walls in the ceiling are painted in blood
The lights go down, the red curtains come apart
This room is full of smoke and dialogue I know by heart
And the coins in my pocket jingle-jangle
As the great screen crackled and popped
And the clock of my boyhood was wound down and stopped
And my handsome little body oddly propped
And my trousers ride down to my ankles
Yes, onward! And upward!
And I'm off to find love
Do you love me? If you do, I'm thankful

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

This city is an ogre squatting by the river
It gives life, but it takes it away, my youth
There comes a time when you just cannot deliver
This is a fact, this is a stone cold truth
Do you love me? I love you, handsome
But do you love me? Yes, I love you, you are handsome
Amongst the cogs and the wires, my youth
Vanilla breath and handsome apes with girlish eyes
Dreams that roam between truth and untruth
Memories that become monstrous lies
So onward! And onward! And onward I go!
Onward! And upward! And I'm off to find love
With blue-black bracelets on my wrists and my ankles
And the coins in my pocket go jingle-jangle

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me?

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