The Mercy Seat

by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

From the album: Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (1984-2014)

Track 9 of 84 on Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (1984-2014) (2017).

Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (1984-2014) cover art

Lyrics for The Mercy Seat

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 deals The meal trolley's wicked wheels A hooked bone rising from my food All things good or un-good And the mercy seat is waiting And I think my head is burning In a way I'm yearning to be done with all these weighing up 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 Interpret sign and catalogue A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog The walls are bad, black bottom kind They are the sick breath at my hind And 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 My kill-hand is evil, across it's brother's fist That filthy five did nothing to challenge or resist In Heaven His throne is made of gold And 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 My kill-hand is called Evil Wears a wedding band that's good 'Tis a long-suffering shackle Collaring all that rebel blood And the mercy seat is waiting And I think my head is burning In a way I'm yearning to be done with all these weighing up the 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 In a way I'm hoping to be done with all these weighing up the truth An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth And I got nothing left to lose And I'm not afraid to die And the mercy seat is smoking And I think my head is boiling In a way it's spoiling all the fun with all these truth and consequence An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth And anyway I told the truth I'm afraid I told a lie Alright, thank you very much

Listen On

More from Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (1984-2014)

  1. From Her To Eternity
  2. In The Ghetto
  3. Tupelo
  4. I'm Gonna Kill That Woman
  5. The Carny
  6. Sad Waters
  7. Stranger Than Kindness
  8. Scum
  9. The Mercy Seat
  10. Deanna
  11. Up Jumped The Devil
  12. The Weeping Song
  13. The Ship Song
  14. Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
  15. Straight To You
  16. Do You Love Me?
  17. Nobody's Baby Now
  18. Loverman
  19. Red Right Hand
  20. Stagger Lee
  21. Where The Wild Roses Grow
  22. Into My Arms
  23. People Ain't No Good
  24. Brompton Oratory
  25. (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?
  26. Come Into My Sleep
  27. Love Letter
  28. God Is In The House
  29. He Wants You
  30. Shoot Me Down
  31. Hiding All Away
  32. There She Goes, My Beautiful World
  33. Nature Boy
  34. Breathless
  35. Babe, You Turn Me On
  36. O Children
  37. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
  38. Night Of The Lotus Eaters
  39. We Call Upon The Author
  40. Jesus Of The Moon
  41. More News From Nowhere
  42. We No Who U R
  43. Jubilee Street
  44. Higgs Boson Blues
  45. Push The Sky Away
  46. Interview (Kippevel, Netherlands, 1988)
  47. Night Of The Lotus Eaters (Docks Des Suds, Marseilles, France, 2008; Live)
  48. Red Right Hand (Glastonbury Festival, UK, 1998; Live)
  49. The Weeping Song (Glasgow TV Studios, UK 2001; Live)
  50. Interview (New York, USA, 2013)
  51. Higgs Boson Blues (La Fabrique Studios, France, 2012)
  52. Interview (Stranger In A Strange Land Documentary, Berlin, Germany, 1987)
  53. From Her To Eternity (Perkins Palace, Pasadena, USA, 1984; Live)
  54. Love Letter (ABC Studios, Australia, 2001)
  55. Interview (Bish's Biz, Australia, 2013)
  56. Do You Love Me? (Boxed Set, Glasgow STV Studios, UK, 2001; Live)
  57. Interview (Boxed Set, Glasgow STV Studios, UK, 2001; Live)
  58. Into My Arms (Inmusic Festival, Zagreb, Croatia, 2008; Live)
  59. We Call Upon the Author (B1 Maximum Club, Moscow, Russia, 2009; Live)
  60. Interview (Ein Abend In Wien , Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1991)
  61. The Mercy Seat (Bizarre Festival, Germany, 1996; Live)
  62. Interview (Columbus, Ohio, USA, 1984)
  63. God Is In The House (Later With Jools Holland, London, UK, 2001)
  64. Interview (Bish's Biz, Australia, 2013)
  65. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Globe Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden, 2008)
  66. Brompton Oratory (MTV Live'n'Loud, 1997)
  67. I'm Gonna Kill That Woman (Posthof, Linz, Austra, 1986)
  68. Jubilee Street (The Fonda Theatre, LA, USA, 2013)
  69. The Ship Song (Live At The Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1992)
  70. Interview (Lollapolooza, USA, 1994)
  71. Loverman (Bizarre Festival, Germany, 1996)
  72. Interview (Australia, 1998)
  73. In the Ghetto (Exit, Chicago, USA, 1984)
  74. Hiding All Away (The Abattoir Blues Tour, Brixton Academy, London, UK, 2004)
  75. Interview (Australia, 1992)
  76. Where The Wild Roses Grow (MTV Most Wanted, London, UK, 1995)
  77. Deanna (St. Luke's, London, UK, 1995)
  78. O Children (Le Trianon, Paris, France, 2013; Live)
  79. Interview (Festival Crazy Rock, Chile, 1996)
  80. Stagger Lee (The White Room, London, UK, 1996; Live)
  81. Interview (Austin City Limits, Texas, USA, 2014)
  82. Interview (Australia, 1985)
  83. Push The Sky Away (The Fonda Theatre, LA, USA, 2013; Live)
  84. There She Goes, My Beautiful World (The Abattoir Blues Tour, Brixton Academy, London, UK, 2004)