Where The Wild Roses Grow

by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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

Track 21 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 Where The Wild Roses Grow

They call me the Wild Rose But my name was Elisa Day Why they call me that I do not know For my name was Elisa Day From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one She stared at my eyes and smiled For her lips were the colour of the roses That grew down the river All bloody and wild When he knocked on my door and entered the room My trembling subsided in his sure embrace He would be my first man, and with a careful hand He wiped at the tears that ran down my face They call me the Wild Rose But my name was Elisa Day Why they call me that I do not know For my name was Elisa Day On the second day I brought her a flower She was more beautiful than any woman I've seen I said, "Do you know where the wild roses grow So sweet and scarlet and free?" On the second day he came with a single red rose He said: "Give me your loss and your sorrow!" I nodded my head As I lay on the bed "If I show you the roses will you follow?" They call me the Wild Rose But my name was Elisa Day Why they call me that I do not know For my name was Elisa Day On the third day he took me to the river He showed me the roses, and we kissed And the last thing I heard was a muttered word As he knelt above me with a rock in his fist On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief As I kissed her goodbye, said "All beauty must die" And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth They call me the Wild Rose But my name was Elisa Day Why they call me that I do not know For my name was Elisa Day

Listen On

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  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
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  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
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  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
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  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)
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