The Mercy Seat lyrics

Artist  : Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds 
Song : The Mercy Seat
 


It began when they come took me from my
home
And put me in 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
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
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 I told the
truth
And I'm not afraid to die.

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
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.