Scum So let me just step back for a minute. Thanks to @Longers for reminding me about this. I wasn't going through my cd on which this is listed, and so I overlooked this track. This song closes out Your funeral ... My trial with a spit of venom. It doesn't take much imagination to realise that the guys were annoyed with someone. The lyrics are quite damning to whoever they are aimed at. I'm sure one of our very informed Forum folks knows who ... Give us the lowdown guys! Lyrics Well, I lived with one Well, I lived with one, I lived with two, I even lived with a third I wanna tell you about number one He was a miserable ****wringing turd Like he reminded me of some evil gnome Shakin hands was like shakin a hot, fat, oily bone Holdin on for far too long Yes he took me in, he took me in He said that I looked pale and thin I told him he looked fat His lips were red and lickin wet His house was roastin hot In fact it was a ****in slum Scum! Scum! Well then he hooked up with some slut from the same game Black snow! Black snow! ********stress, and I should know Mean and vicious, her microphone always smelled suspicious His and herpes bath towel type If you know what I mean I could not look at him, worm He'd be takin a shower and who should walk in He was the epitome of their type Her middle name was Welcome, his was Wipe Scum! Scum! Well you're on the **** list Thrust and twist, twist and screw You gave me a bad review And maybe you think that it's all just water under the bridge Well my UNfriend, I'm the type that holds a grudge I'm your creator I think you ****in traitor, chronic masturbator, ****licker, user, self-abuser, jigger jigger! What rock did you crawl from? Which ..... did you come? You Judas, Brutus, Vitus, Scum! Hey four-eyes, come That's right, it's a gun Face is bubble, blood, and ...... street Snowman with six holes clean into his fat ****in guts Psychotic drama mounts Guts well deep then a spring is fount (?) I unload into his eyes Blood springs Dead snow Blue skies
In The Ghetto Now that I have corrected that glaring omission let me correct this one. On From Her To Eternity the band did a great version of In The Ghetto ... Sorry guys, I'm messing up a little here .... Lyrics As the snow flies On a cold and grey Chicago morn A poor little baby child is born in the ghetto And his mama cries Cause there's one thing that she don't need Is another little hungry mouth to feed in the ghetto Oh people don't you understand This child needs a helping hand He's gonna grow to be an angry young man some day Take a look at you and me Are we that blind to see? Do we simply turn our heads and look the other way? And the world turns And the hungry little boy with the runny nose Plays in the streets as the cold wind blows in the ghetto And his hunger burns So he starts to roam the streets at night And he learns how to steal and he learns how to fight in the ghetto Then one night in desperation The young man breaks away He buys a gun and steals a car He tries to run but he don't get far And his mama cries A crowd gathers round an angry young man Face down in the street with a gun in his hand in the ghetto And as her young man dies On a cold and grey Chicago morn Another little baby child is born in the ghetto
The Mercy Seat This song starts with some talking and explosions of sound until the first refrain kicks in. Spoken sections and sung sections crisscross while the unrelenting music rolls on. There is an intensity in this song that is often hard to capture in the studio, yet they got it down, in spite of interference from addiction issues. We are given the story of someone placed on death row. There is some reflection and plenty of claims of innocence and then as the last seconds of life are flowing through our protagonist he confesses he may have told a lie .... Lyrics It began when they come took me from my home And put me on 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 So 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 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 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 there was no proof Nor a motive why 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 Like a cross between a nightmare, a blues song and a drunken broadway tune this song trips along telling a story of woe, of course. For all of its quirks this is a very accessible tune and works well. Lyrics 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 yonder all in flames Dragging behind him a sack of chains Who's that yonder 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 villian's part I was the baddest Johnny In the apple cart My blood was blacker Than the chambers 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 the deserts of Mexico Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope Who's that yonder laughing at me Like I was the brunt of some hilarity Who's that yonder laughing at me Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3 Ha-Ha Ha Ha How lucky we were We hit the cathouse And we sampled their whares We got as drunk As a couple of Czars That night I swallowed My lucky star 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 proof" O no o no don't go O slow down Joe The righteous path Is 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 plucked 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
The hate song 'Scum' (it was about a certain music journalist) has been released in 1986 as a green flexi disc folded in a kind of black/white poster. I got it by coincidence (don't know how), but played it very little. And after selling all my own vinyl albums and my own record player, I owned it for years for no reason at all. So what to do with that? When this song was also released as part of a 3cd 'B-sides and Rarities', I decided to give this flexi disc away by putting it in a vinyl album of Nick Cave of my wife when she was also selling her vinyl collection (far too cheap, it was a complete Factory, 4AD and Mute collection!) A new buyer would maybe very pleased by discovering this flexi disc in a regular Cave album, was my thinking. Well, the pleasure was mine .
Easy reference guide Nick Cave - Who? - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread The Birthday Party - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Shivers (from the album Door Door, as the Boys next door) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Zoo Music Girl (from the album Prayers on fire) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Nick The Stripper (from the album Prayers on fire) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread King Ink (from the album Prayers on fire) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread She's Hit (from the album Junkyard) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Release the bats (single added to cd of Junkyard) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Junkyard live 1982 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Deep In The Woods (from the cd Mutiny) - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread -------------------------------------------------------------------- - Rowland S Howard - (member of The Birthday Party sings his version of his song " Shivers" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread - Rowland S Howard with his band These Immortal Souls, Marry Me - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread ------------------------------------------------------------------- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds From Her To Eternity 1984 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 1 Avalanche - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 2 Cabin fever - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 3 Well Of Misery - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 4 From Her To Eternity - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 5 Saint Huck - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 6 Wings of Flies - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 7 A Box For Black Paul - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 8 In The Ghetto Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread The Firstborn Is Dead 1985 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 1 Tupelo - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 2 Say Goodbye To The Little Girl Tree - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 3 Train Long-Suffering - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 4 Black Crow King - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 5 Knocking On Joe - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 6 Wanted Man - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 7 Blind Lemon Jefferson - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Kicking Against The Pricks 1986 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread A few songs from this cover album Sleeping Annaleah - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Long Black Veil - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread All Tomorrow's Parties - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread The Carnival Is Over - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Your Funeral .... My Trial 1986 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 1 Sad Waters - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 2 The Carny - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 3 You're Funeral ... My Trial Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 4 Stranger Than Kindness Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 5 Jack's Shadow Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Jack's Shadow extra info - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 6 Hard On For Love Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 7 She Fell Away Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 8 Long Time Man Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 9 Scum Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread Tender Prey 1988 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 1 Mercy Seat Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread track 2 Up Jumped The Devil Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Album thread
First time I heard the Birthday Party was in 1983. I was in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and the album Junkyard was inexplicably nestled amongst a bunch of Bolivian folk albums in a tiny record store! As soon as I saw the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth cover art I thought, "What have we here?" Bought it immediately and took it to my pal's house. We probably listened to it 10 times in a row. I was entranced by Cave's voice and those snaky guitars. One of my favorite albums.
Deanna We have touched on this song somewhat. This is a great rock song, with a Bonnie and Clyde story rolling through it. It became, to the best of my knowledge, a very popular live tune and gave the band a chance to just rock out. Lyrics 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 you love or money I’m down here for you soul No carpet on the floor And the winding-cloth holds many moths Around your Ku Klux furniture I cum a deaths-head in your frock We discuss the murder pact We discuss murder and the murder act Murder takes the wheel of the 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 Xmas trees And honey, it ain’t a mystery Why you’re a mystery to me We will eat out of their pantries And their parlours Ashy leavings 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 it’s little thing O DEANNA Feel it’s kick, hear its bang And lets not worry about its issue Don’t worry about where its been And don’t worry about where it hits Cause it ain’t yours to sin O DEANNA No it just ain’t yours 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 In this song Nick plays the voyeur and the song is a mellow piano track. This kind of song, musically, is what kicked Cave and the band up from alt rock obscurity to pretty much full blown rock stars. Although this track isn't quite the equal of its offspring to come. Lyrics 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 climbs 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 Mercy is sung from the perspective of John the Baptist and is another atmospheric Bad Seeds exercise. The song works very well and is another example how well this band tells a story, musically and lyrically. Lyrics 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 & 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 Crying ‘Mercy’ Have mercy on me
This is a minority opinion, but I love Mercy so much that I even put it above The Mercy Seat (which is still top 10 Cave). It's such a clever take on a biblical tale and such a killer vocal performance from both Cave and the Seeds. Sad Waters is probably my favorite Cave song period. If you didn't notice, by the way, the song is riffing on the country classic Green Grass of Home. Every song on Your Funeral is great except Hard On For Love - it's one of the songs where just goes a little too far with his darker side, IMO. My version doesn't have Scum - was it a B-side or was it removed from reissues?
i am not sure to be honest (about scum) it is on my cd ... but i do these from the online info, so i inadvertently forgot that i had missed it. I tend to agree with you on your statements up there, and I love sad waters but later in the catalog there are so many songs i love, that i would be unable to name a favourite
City Of Refuge Another song where Cave dips his toe in the Old Testament. An uptempo song that has typical Cave references and the song works well in its context. Lyrics 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 Because your robes are covered in mud While you 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 for 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
City Of Refuge and Mercy seat are 2 Superb Songs from Amazing Album! both songs have hypnotic energy, the production and the Emotion in these songs... absolutely Brilliant . When I listen to Mercy seat I feel like I am in the middle of the event in the song, this is the power of Nick Cave, his ability to create such an amazing atmosphere which makes you feel that you a witness to these stories and events.I like that Mercy Seat is long track 7:19 , the song is so mesmerizing and Fascinating, You don't want the song to end.
The sounds of the Harmonica in City Of Refuge---- Genius !! The emotional/beautiful -Amazing melodies of the Harmonica , it's impossible not to dance during these sounds.
Marc, In my previous reply to your post I forgot to edit and some of my response includes also a few of your words LOL/ So here it again: I meant to say that for me Your Funeral ... My Trial is an excellent album.
Slowly Goes The Night Another great song here and the band start to really discover the light and shade of their music. So many songs on here are road signs showing where the band would be on the next album. There is somewhat of a classic feel on this song and the chord structure, feel and vocals point to some music from long ago. Lyrics 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 moon 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 night O baby, I feel the heal of time I wake to find you sitting there Cutting tangles 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 This song brings the beat back up and the lurching rhythm sits well as Cave runs through a despairing review of the week. This is almost the anti-friday on my mind song lol. Lyrics 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 a motley few Spend all day digging my grave Now go get Sunday’s slave Tuesday sleeps in the stable Wednesday’s in 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 loss, man, just who is the boss-man Ask the blood on one of its bad days For his nerve is to serve but the service 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
