Oh My Lord

Nick Cave and the bad seeds

I thought I'd take a walk today
 It's a mistake I sometimes make
 My children lay asleep in bed
 My wife lay wide-awake
 I kissed her softly on the brow
 I tried not to make a sound
 But with stony eyes she looked at me
 And gently squeezed my hand
 Call it a premonition, call it a crazy vision
 Call it intuition, something learned from mother
 But when she looked up at me, I could clearly see
 The Sword of Damocles hanging directly above her
 Oh Lord Oh my Lord
 Oh Lord
 How have I offended thee?
 Wrap your tender arms around me
 Oh Lord Oh Lord
 Oh My Lord

They called at me through the fence
 They were not making any sense
 They claimed that I had lost the plot
 Kept saying that I was not
 The man I used to be
 They held their babes aloft
 Threw marsh mellows at the Security
 And said that I'd grown soft
 Call it intuition, call it a creeping suspicion,
 But their words of derision meant they hardly knew me
 For even I could see in the way they stared at me
 The Spear of Destiny sticking right through me
 Oh Lord Oh my lord
 Oh Lord
 How have I offended thee?
 Wrap your tender arms round me
 Oh Lord Oh lord
 Oh My Lord

Now I'm at the hairdressers
 People watch me as they move past
 A guy wearing plastic antlers
 Presses his bum against the glass
 Now I'm down on my hands and knees
 And it's so f*cking hot!
 Someone cries, "What are you looking for?"
 I scream, "The plot, the plot!"
 I grab my telephone, I call my wife at home
 She screams, "Leave us alone!" I say, "Hey, it's only me"
 The hairdresser with his scissors, he holds up the mirror
 I look back and shiver; I can't even believe what I can see

Be mindful of the prayers you send
 Pray hard but pray with care
 For the tears that you are crying now
 Are just your answered prayers
 The ladders of life that we scale merrily
 Move mysteriously around
 So that when you think you're climbing up, man
 In fact you're climbing down
 Into the hollows of glamour, where with spikes and hammer
 With telescopic camera, they chose to turn the screw
 Oh I hate them, Ma! Oh I hate them, Pa!
 Oh I hate them all for what they went and done to you
 Oh Lord Oh my Lord
 Oh Lord
 How have I offended thee?
 Wrap your tender arms round me
 Oh Lord Oh Lord
 Oh My Lord