O'malley's Bar Lyrics - Nick Cave & The Bad Seed

I am tall and I am thin of an enviable height 

And I've been known to be quite handsome 

In a certain angle and in a certain light 

Well, I entered into O'Malley's 

Said, "O'Malley I have a thirst" 

O'Malley merely smiled at me 

Said, "You wouldn't be the first" 

I knocked on the bar and pointed 

To a bottle on the shelf 

And as O'Malley poured me out a drink 

I sniffed and crossed myself 

My hand decided that the time was nigh 

And for a moment it slipped from view 

And when it returned, it fairly burned 

With confidence anew 

Well, the thunder from my steely fist 

Made all the glasses jangle 

Oh, when I shot him, I was so handsome 

It was the light, it was the angle 

"Neighbors", I cried, "Friends", I screamed 

I banged my fist upon the bar 

I bear no grudge against you 

And my dick felt long and hard 

I am the man for which no God waits 

But for which the whole world yearns 

And I'm marked by darkness and by blood 

And one thousand powder burns 

Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips 

That clean the ocean floor 

When I looked at poor O'Malley's wife 

That's exactly what I saw 

Well, I jammed the barrel under her chin 

And her face looked raw and vicious 

Her head it landed in the sink 

With all the dirty dishes 

Her little daughter, Siobhan 

Pulled beers from dusk till down 

And amongst the townfolk she was a bit of a joke 

But she pulled the best beer in town 

Well, I swooped magnificent upon her 

As she sat shivering in her grief 

Like the Madonna painted on the church house wall 

In whale's blood and banana leaf 

Her throat crumbled in my hands 

And I spun heroically around 

To see Caffrey rising from his seat 

I shot that motherfucker down 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah 

I have no free will, I sang 

As I flew about the murder 

Mrs. Richard Holmes, she screamed 

You really should have heard her 

Well, I sang and I laughed, I howled and I wept 

I panted like a pup 

I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes 

And her husband stupidly stood up 

As he screamed, "You are an evil man" 

And I paused a while to wonder 

If I have no free will then how can I 

Be morally culpable, I wonder 

I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach 

And gingerly he sat down 

And he whispered weirdly, "No offense" 

And then lay upon the ground 

None taken, I replied to him 

To which he gave a little cough 

An with blazing wings I neatly aimed 

And blew his head completely off 

I've been lived in this town for thirty years 

And to no one I am a stranger 

And I put new bullets in my gun 

Chamber upon chamber 

And I turned my gun on the bird like Mr. Brookes 

I thought of Saint Francis and his sparrows 

And as I shot down the youthful Richardson 

It was Sebastian I thought of and his arrows 

I said, "I want to introduce myself 

And I am glad that you all came" 

And I leapt upon the bar 

And then I shouted out my name 

Well, Jerry Bellows, he hugged his stool 

Closed his eyes and shrugged and laughed 

And with an ashtray big as a fucking really big brick 

I split his skull in half 

His blood spilled across the bar 

Like a steaming scarlet brook 

And then I knelt there at it's edge on the counter 

Wiped the tears away and looked 

Well, the light in there was blinding 

Full of god and ghosts of truth 

And I smiled at Henry Davenport 

Who made an attempt to move 

Well, from the position I was standing 

Of the strangest thing I ever saw 

The bullet entered through the top of his chest 

And blew his bowels out on the floor 

And I floated down the counter 

Showing no remorse 

I shot a hole in Kathleen Carpenter 

Recently divorced 

But remorse I felt, remorse I had 

It clung into every thing 

From the raven's hair upon my head 

To the feathers on my wings 

Remorse squeezed my hand in it's fraudulent claw 

With it's golden hairless chest 

And I glided through the bodies 

And killed the fat man, Vincent West 

Who sat quietly in his chair 

A man become a child 

And I raised the gun up to his head 

Executioner style 

He made no attempt to resist 

So fat and dull and lazy 

"Did you know that I lived in your street?" I said 

And he looked at me as though I were crazy 

Ohh, he said, "I had no idea" 

And he grew as quiet as a mouse 

And the roar of the pistol when it went off 

Nearly blew that hat right off the house 

Well, I caught my eye in the mirror 

And gave it a long and loving inspection 

There stands some kind of man, I roared 

And there did, in the reflection 

My hair combed back like a raven's wing 

My muscles hard and tight 

And curling from the business end of my gun 

Was a query mark of cordite 

Well, I spun to the left, I spun to the right 

And I spun to the left again 

Fear me, fear me, fear me 

But no one did 'cause they were dead 

And then there were the police sirens wailing 

And a bull horn squelched and blared 

"Drop your weapons and come out 

With your hands held in the air" 

Well, I checked the chamber of my gun 

Saw I had one final bullet left 

My hand, it looked almost human 

As I raised it literally to my head 

Drop your weapon and come on out 

Keep your hands above your head 

I had one one long hard think about dying 

And did exactly what they said 

There must have been fifty cops out there 

In a circle around O'Malley's bar 

"Don't shoot", I cried, "I'm a man unarmed" 

So they put me in their car 

And they sped me away from that terrible scene 

And I glanced out of the window 

Saw O'Malley's bar, saw the cops and the cars 

And I started counting on my fingers 

One, two, three, four 

O'Malley's bar, O'Malley's bar 

O'Malley's bar, O'Malley's bar 

O'Malley's bar, O'Malley's bar