Cabin Fever! Lyrics - Nick Cave & The Bad Seed

The captains fore-arm like bunched-up rope 

With A-N-I-T-A wrigglin' free on a skull 'n dagger 

And a portrait of Christ, nailed to an anchor 

Etched into his upper 

O, O, O cabin fever! 

O, O, O cabin fever! 

Slams his fucken tin-dish down 

Our captain, takes time to crush 

Some bloo-bottles glowin' in his gruel 

With a lump in his throat, and lumpy mush 

Thumbing a scrapbook stuck up with clag 

And a morbid lump of love in his flags 

Done is the missing, now all that remains 

Is to sail forever, upon the stain 

Cabin fever! 

O, O, O cabin fever! 

The captains free-hand is a cleaver 

Which he fashions his beard, and he rations his jerkey 

And carves his peg outa the finest mahagony 

Or was it ebony? Etc. 

Tallies up his loneliness, notch by notch 

For the sea offers nuthin' to hold or touch 

Notch by notch, winter by winter 

Notch X notch, winter X winter 

Now his leg is whittled, right down to a splinter 

O, O, cabin fever! 

O, O, O, cabin fever! 

O, the rollin', sea still rollin' on 

She's everywhere now that 

She's gone, gone, gone 

O cabin fever! 

O cabin fever! 

Welcome to his table, beloved-unconscious 

Raisin' her host of hair from her crooks 

And strugglin' to summon one of her looks 

His arm now like coiled s-s-snakes 

Whips all the bottles that he's drunk 

Like crystal, skittles about the cabin 

Of a ship they'd been sailing 

Five years sunken, etc.