The Lyre of Orpheus

Nick Cave and the bad seeds

Orpheus sat gloomy in his garden shed
 Wondering what to do
 With a lump of wood, a piece of wire
 And a little pot of glue
 O Mamma O Mamma

He sawed at the wood with half a heart
 And glued it top to bottom
 He strung a wire in between
 He was feeling something rotten
 O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus looked at his instrument
 And he gave the wire a pluck
 He heard a sound so beautiful
 He gasped and said O my God
 O Mamma O Mamma

He rushed inside to tell his wife
 He went racing down the halls
 Eurydice was still asleep in bed
 Like a sack of cannonballs
 O Mamma O Mamma

Look what I've made, cried Orpheus
 And he plucked a gentle note
 Eurydice's eyes popped from their sockets
 And her tongue burst through her throat
 O Mamma O Mamma

O God, what have I done, he said
 As her blood pooled in the sheets
 But in his heart he felt a bliss
 With which nothing could compete
 O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus went leaping through the fields
 Strumming as hard as he did please
 Birdies detonated in the sky
 Bunnies dashed their brains out on the trees
 O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus strummed till his fingers bled
 He hit a G minor 7
 He woke up God from a deep, deep sleep
 God was a major player in heaven
 O Mamma O Mamma

God picked up a giant hammer
 And He threw it with an thunderous yell
 It smashed down hard on Orpheus' head
 And knocked him down a well
 O Mamma O Mamma

The well went down very deep
 Very deep went down the well
 The well went down so very deep
 Well, the well went down to hell
 O Mamma O Mamma

Poor Orpheus woke up with a start
 All amongst the rotting dead
 His lyre tacked safe under his arm
 His brains all down his head
 O Mamma O Mamma

Eurydice appeared brindled in blood
 And she said to Orpheus
 If you play that f*cking thing down here
 I'll stick it up your orifice!
 O Mamma O Mamma

This lyre lark is for the birds, said Orpheus
 It's enough to send you bats
 Let's stay down here, Eurydice, dear
 And we'll have a bunch of screaming brats
 O Mamma O Mamma

Orpheus picked up his lyre for the last time
 He was on a real low down bummer
 And stared deep into the abyss and said
 This one is for Mamma

O Mamma O Mamma
 O Mamma O Mamma

...