Interpret:

Nick Cave

Album:

Murder Ballads

I am tall and I am thin 
Of an enviable hight 
And I've been known to be quite handsome 
In a certain angle and in certain light 


Well I entered into O'Malley's 
Said, "O'Malley I have a thirst" 
O'Malley merely smiled at me 
Said "You wouldn't be the first" 


I knocked on the bar and pointed 
To a bottle on the shelf 
And as O'Malley poured me out a drink 
I sniffed and crossed myself 


My hand decided that the time was nigh 
And for a moment it slipped from view 
And when it returned, it fairly burned 
With confidence anew 


Well the thunder from my steely fist 
Made all the glasses jangle 
When I shot him, I was so handsome 
It was the light, it was the angle 


Huh! Hmmmmmm 


"Neighbours!" I cried, "Friends!" I screamed 
I banged my fist upon the bar 
"I bear no grudge against you!" 
And my dick felt long and hard 


"I am the man for which no God waits 
But for which the whole world yearns 
I'm marked by darkness and by blood 
And one thousand powder-burns" 


Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips 
That clean the ocean floor 
When I looked at poor O'Malley's wife 
That's exactly what I saw 


I jammed the barrel under her chin 
And her face looked raw and vicious 
Her head it landed in the sink 
With all the dirty dishes 


Her little daughter Siobhan 
Pulled beers from dusk till down 
And amongst the townfolk she was a bit of a joke 
But she pulled the best beer in town 


I swooped magnificent upon her 
As she sat shivering in her grief 
Like the Madonna painted on the church-house wall 
In whale's blood and banana leaf 


Her throat it crumbled in my fist 
And I spun heroically around 
To see Caffrey rising from his seat 
I shot that mother fucker down 


Mmmmmmmmmm Yeah Yeah Yeah 


"I have no free will", I sang 
As I flew about the murder 
Mrs. Richard Holmes, she screamed 
You really should have heard her 


I sang and I laughed, I howled and I wept 
I panted like a pup 
I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes 
And her husband stupidly stood up 


As he screamed, "You are an evil man" 
And I paused a while to wonder 
"If I have no free will then how can I 
Be morally culpable, I wonder" 


I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach 
And gingerly he sat down 
And he whispered weirdly, "No offense" 
And then lay upon the ground 


"None taken", I replied to him 
To which he gave a little cough 
With blazing wings I neatly aimed 
And blew his head completely off 


I've lived in this town for thirty years 
And to no-one I am a stranger 
And I put new bullets in my gun 
Chamber upon chamber 


And I turned my gun on the bird-like Mr. Brookes 
I thought of Saint Francis and his sparrows 
And as I shot down the youthful Richardson 
It was St. Sebastian I thought of, and his arrows 


Hhhhhhhhhh Mmmmmmmmmmmm 


I said, "I want to introduce myself 
And I am glad that all you came" 
And I leapt upon the bar 
And shouted out my name 


Well Jerry Bellows, he hugged his stool 
Closed his eyes and shrugged and laughed 
And with an ashtray as big as a fucking really big brick 
I split his head in half 


His blood spilled across the bar 
Like a steaming scarlet brook 
And I knelt at it's edge on the counter 
Wiped the tears away and looked 


Well, the light in there was blinding 
Full of God and ghosts of truth 
I smiled at Henry Davenport 
Who made an attempt to move 


Well, from the position I was standing 
The strangest thing I ever saw 
The bullet entered through the top of his chest 
And blew his bowels out on the floor 


Well I floated down the counter 
Showing no remorse 
I shot a hole in Kathleen Carpenter 
Recently divorced 


But remorse i felt and remorse I had 
It clung to every thing 
From the raven's hair upon my head 
To the feathers on my wings 


Remorse sqeezed my hand in it's fradulent claw 
With it's golden hairless chest 
And I glided through the bodies 
And killed the fat man Vincent West 


Who sat quietly in his chair 
A man become a child 
And I raised the gun up to his head 
Executioner-style 


He made no attempt to resist 
So fat and dull and lazy 
"Did you know I lived in your street?" I said 
And he looked at me as though I were crazy 


"O", he said, "I had no idea" 
And he grew as quiet as a mouse 
And the roar of the pistol when it went off 
Near blew that hat right off the house 


Hmmmmmm Uh Uh 


Well, I caught my eye in the mirror 
And gave it a long and loving inspection 
"There stands some kind of man", I roared 
And there did, in the reflection 


My hair combed back like a raven's wing 
My muscles hard and tight 
And curling from the business end of my gun 
Was a query-mark of cordite 


Well I spun to the left, I spun to the right 
And I spun to the left again 
"Fear me! Fear me! Fear me!" 
But no one did cause they were dead 


Huh! Hmmmmmmmmm 


And then there were the police sirens wailing 
And a bull-horn squelched and blared 
"Drop your weapons and come out 
With your hands held in the air" 


Well, I checked the chamber of my gun 
Saw I had one final bullet left 
My hand, it looked almost human 
As I raised it to my head 


"Drop your weapon and come out! 
Keep your hands above your head!" 
I had one one long hard think about dying 
And did exactly what they said 


There must have been fifty cops out there 
In a circle around O'Malley's bar 
"Don't shoot", I cried, "I'm a man unarmed!" 
So they put me in their car 


And they sped me away from that terrible scene 
And I glanced out of the window 
Saw O'Malley's bar, saw the cops and the cars 
And I started counting on my fingers 


Aaaaaah One Aaaaaah Two Aaaaaah Three Aaaaaaah Four 
O'Malley's bar O'Malley's bar