Song Of Joy Lyrics by Nick Cave

Song Of Joy Lyrics

    Have mercy on me, sir
    Allow me to impose on you
    I have no place to stay
    And my bones are cold right through
    I will tell you a story
    Of a man and his family
    And I swear that it is true
    Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
    She was a sweet and happy thing
    Her eyes were bright blue jewels
    And we were married in the spring
    I had no idea what happiness and little love could bring
    Or what life had in store
    But all things move toward their end
    All things move toward their their end
    On that you can be sure
    La la la la la la la la la la
    La la la la la la la la la la
    Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
    And for many days to follow
    She grew so sad and lonely
    Became Joy in name only
    Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow
    And a dark and grim force set sail
    * Farewell happy fields *
    * Where joy forever dwells *
    * Hail horrors hail *
    Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
    As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked
    night
    Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife
    Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
    Well, could it be?
    How often I've asked that question
    Well, then in quick succession
    We had babies, one, two, three
    We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
    They were their mother's children
    Their eyes were bright blue jewels
    And they were quiet as a mouse
    There was no laughter in the house
    No, not from Hilda, Hattie or Holly
    No wonder, people said, poor mother
    Joy's so melancholy
    Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
    I was visiting a sick friend
    I was a doctor then
    Joy and the girls were on their own
    La la la la la la la la la la
    La la la la la la la la la la
    Joy had been bound with electrical tape
    In her mouth a gag
    She'd been stabbed repeatedly
    And stuffed into a sleeping bag
    In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
    Method of murder much the same as my wife's
    Method of murder much the same as my wife's
    It was midnight when I arrived home
    Said to the police on the telephone
    Someone's taken four innocent lives
    They never caught the man
    He's still on the loose
    It seems he has done many many more
    Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim's blood
    The police are investigating at tremendous cost
    In my house he wrote * his red right hand *
    That, I'm told is from Paradise Lost
    The wind round here gets wicked cold
    But my story is nearly told
    I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
    And so I've left my home
    I drift from land to land
    I am upon your step and you are a family man
    Outside the vultures wheel
    The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
    And to extend this small favour, friend
    Would be the sum of earthly bliss
    Do you reckon me a friend?
    * The sun to me is dark *
    * And silent as the moon *
    Do you, sir, have a room?
    Are you beckoning me in?
    La la la la la la la la la la
    La la la la la la la la la la

    Note: Lines between asterisks by John Milton

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