The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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 meals

The meal trolley's wicked wheels

A hooked bone rising from my food

All things either good or ungood

And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be done with all this measuring of truth

An eye for an eye

A tooth for a tooth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to die

Interpret signs and catalogue

A blackened tooth a scarlet fog

The walls are bad Black Bottom kind

They are sick breath at my hind

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 it's way

He was a carpenter by trade

Or at least that's what I'm told

Like my good hand I

Tatooed E V I L across it's brother's fist

That filthy five They did nothing to challenge or resist

In Heaven His throne is made of gold

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 E V I L

Wears a wedding band that's G O O D

`Tis a long-suffering shackle

Collaring all that rebel blood

And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be done with all this measuring of 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

And in a way I'm hoping

To be done with all this weighing up of truth

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And I've 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

And in a way I'm spoiling

All the fun with all this truth and consequence

An eye for an eye

And a truth for a truth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to d