Song Of Joy Lyrics - Murder Ballads - Nick Cave

Have mercy on me, sir 

Allow me to impose on you 

I have no place to stay 

And my bones are cold right through 

I will tell you a story 

Of a man and his family 

And I swear that it is true 

Ten years ago I met a girl named joy 

She was a sweet and happy thing 

Her eyes were bright blue jewels 

And we were married in the spring 

I had no idea what happiness and little love could bring 

Or what life had in store 

But all things move toward their end 

All things move toward their their end 

On that you can be sure 

La la la la la la la la la la 

La la la la la la la la la la 

Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping 

And for many days to follow 

She grew so sad and lonely 

Became joy in name only 

Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow 

And a dark and grim force set sail 

* farewell happy fields * 

* where joy forever dwells * 

* hail horrors hail * 

Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition 

As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked 

Night 

Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife 

Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention! 

Well, could it be? 

How often I've asked that question 

Well, then in quick succession 

We had babies, one, two, three 

We called them hilda, hattie and holly 

They were their mother's children 

Their eyes were bright blue jewels 

And they were quiet as a mouse 

There was no laughter in the house 

No, not from hilda, hattie or holly 

No wonder, people said, poor mother 

Joy's so melancholy 

Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home 

I was visiting a sick friend 

I was a doctor then 

Joy and the girls were on their own 

La la la la la la la la la la 

La la la la la la la la la la 

Joy had been bound with electrical tape 

In her mouth a gag 

She'd been stabbed repeatedly 

And stuffed into a sleeping bag 

In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives 

Method of murder much the same as my wife's 

Method of murder much the same as my wife's 

It was midnight when I arrived home 

Said to the police on the telephone 

Someone's taken four innocent lives 

They never caught the man 

He's still on the loose 

It seems he has done many many more 

Quotes john milton on the walls in the victim's blood 

The police are investigating at tremendous cost 

In my house he wrote * his red right hand * 

That, I'm told is from paradise lost 

The wind round here gets wicked cold 

But my story is nearly told 

I fear the morning will bring quite a frost 

And so I've left my home 

I drift from land to land 

I am upon your step and you are a family man 

Outside the vultures wheel 

The wolves howl, the serpents hiss 

And to extend this small favour, friend 

Would be the sum of earthly bliss 

Do you reckon me a friend? 

* the sun to me is dark * 

* and silent as the moon * 

Do you, sir, have a room? 

Are you beckoning me in? 

La la la la la la la la la la 

La la la la la la la la la la 

Note: lines between asterisks by john milton