You fell from the sky
Crash landed in a field
Near the river Adur
Flowers spring from the ground
Lambs burst from the wombs of their mothers
In a hole beneath the bridge
She convalesce, she fashioned masks of twigs and clay
You cried beneath the dripping trees
Ghost song lodged in the throat of a mermaid
With my voice
I am calling you
You're a young man waking
Covered in blood that is not yours
You're a woman in a yellow dress
Surrounded by a charm of hummingbirds
You're a young girl full of forbidden energy
Flickering in the gloom
You're a drug addict lying on your back
In a Tijuana hotel room
With my voice
I am calling you
With my voice
I am calling you
You're an African doctor harvesting tear ducts
You believe in God, but you get no special dispensation for this belief now
You're an old man sitting by a fire, hear the mist rolling off the sea
You're a distant memory in the mind of your creator, don't you see?
With my voice
I am calling you
With my voice
I am calling you
Let us sit together until the moment comes
With my voice
I am calling you
With my voice, I am calling you
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree Album Lyrics
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree Lyrics
Writer: NICHOLAS CAVE
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Rings of Saturn
Upside down and inside out and on all eights
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high and skyward
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her eyes that look at me through her rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she is and this is what she does (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
"Are you still here?" (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high and skyward
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her eyes that look at me through her rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she is and this is what she does (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
"Are you still here?" (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
Writer: NICHOLAS CAVE
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Girl in Amber
Some go and some stay behind
Some never move at all
Girl in amber trapped forever, spinning down the hall
Let no part of her go unremembered, clothes across the floor
Girl in amber lumber slumber shuts the bathroom door
The phone, the phone, the phone it rings, it rings, it rings no more
The song, the song, the song it spins since nineteen eighty-four
The phone, the phone, the phone, it rings, the phone, it rings no more
The song, the song it's been spinning now since nineteen
And if you want to bleed, just bleed
And if you want to bleed, just bleed
And if you want to bleed, don't breathe
A word
Just step away and let the world spin
And now in turn, you turn
You kneel, lace up his shoes, your little blue-eyed boy
Take him by his hand, go move and spin him down the hall
I get lucky, I get lucky 'cause I tried again
I knew the world it would stop spinning now since you've been gone
I used to think that when you died you kind of wandered the world
In a slumber till you crumbled, were absorbed into the earth
Well, I don't think that any more
The phone it rings no more
The song, the song it spins, it spins now since nineteen eighty-four
The song, the song, the song it spins, it's been a spinning now
And if you'll hold me I will tell you that you know that
And if you want to leave, don't breathe
And if you want to leave, don't breathe
And if you want to leave, don't breathe a word
And let the world turn
The song, the song it spins, the song, it spins, it spins no more
The phone, it rings, it rings
And you won't stay
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Some never move at all
Girl in amber trapped forever, spinning down the hall
Let no part of her go unremembered, clothes across the floor
Girl in amber lumber slumber shuts the bathroom door
The phone, the phone, the phone it rings, it rings, it rings no more
The song, the song, the song it spins since nineteen eighty-four
The phone, the phone, the phone, it rings, the phone, it rings no more
The song, the song it's been spinning now since nineteen
And if you want to bleed, just bleed
And if you want to bleed, just bleed
And if you want to bleed, don't breathe
A word
Just step away and let the world spin
And now in turn, you turn
You kneel, lace up his shoes, your little blue-eyed boy
Take him by his hand, go move and spin him down the hall
I get lucky, I get lucky 'cause I tried again
I knew the world it would stop spinning now since you've been gone
I used to think that when you died you kind of wandered the world
In a slumber till you crumbled, were absorbed into the earth
Well, I don't think that any more
The phone it rings no more
The song, the song it spins, it spins now since nineteen eighty-four
The song, the song, the song it spins, it's been a spinning now
And if you'll hold me I will tell you that you know that
And if you want to leave, don't breathe
And if you want to leave, don't breathe
And if you want to leave, don't breathe a word
And let the world turn
The song, the song it spins, the song, it spins, it spins no more
The phone, it rings, it rings
And you won't stay
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Don't touch me
Writer: Nicholas Cave, Warren Ellis
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Magneto
Mostly I never knew which way was out
Once it was on, it was on and that was that
The umbilicus was a faucet that fountained rabbit blood
And I spun on my wheel like a laboratory rat
I was an electrical storm on the bathroom floor, clutching the bowl
My blood was full of gags and other people's diseases
My monstrous little memory had swallowed me whole
It was the year I officially became the bride of Jesus
In love, in love, in love you laugh
In love you move, I move
And one more time with feeling
For love, you love, I laugh, you love
Saw you in half
And the stars are splashed across the ceiling
Oh, the urge to kill somebody was basically overwhelming
I had such hard blues down there in the supermarket queues
And I had a sudden urge to become someone, someone like you
Who started out with less than anyone I ever knew
In love, in love, I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
I move, you move
And one more time with feeling
I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
I'm sawn in half
And all the stars are splashed across the ceiling
Oh, I know you come shining, softly to the hole to drink
Come as far as the edge of my blood, and then swim
And in the bathroom mirror I see me vomit in the sink
And all through the house we hear the hyena's hymns
Of love, I love, you love, I love, you love
I laugh, you laugh, I move, you move, you move
And one more time with feeling
I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
We saw each other in half
And all the stars are splashed and splattered across the ceiling
Once it was on, it was on and that was that
The umbilicus was a faucet that fountained rabbit blood
And I spun on my wheel like a laboratory rat
I was an electrical storm on the bathroom floor, clutching the bowl
My blood was full of gags and other people's diseases
My monstrous little memory had swallowed me whole
It was the year I officially became the bride of Jesus
In love, in love, in love you laugh
In love you move, I move
And one more time with feeling
For love, you love, I laugh, you love
Saw you in half
And the stars are splashed across the ceiling
Oh, the urge to kill somebody was basically overwhelming
I had such hard blues down there in the supermarket queues
And I had a sudden urge to become someone, someone like you
Who started out with less than anyone I ever knew
In love, in love, I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
I move, you move
And one more time with feeling
I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
I'm sawn in half
And all the stars are splashed across the ceiling
Oh, I know you come shining, softly to the hole to drink
Come as far as the edge of my blood, and then swim
And in the bathroom mirror I see me vomit in the sink
And all through the house we hear the hyena's hymns
Of love, I love, you love, I love, you love
I laugh, you laugh, I move, you move, you move
And one more time with feeling
I love, you love, I laugh, you laugh
We saw each other in half
And all the stars are splashed and splattered across the ceiling
Writer: NICHOLAS CAVE
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Anthrocene
All the fine winds gone
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force that shifts at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene
All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene
Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene
Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now
Well, I heard you been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little world
And brace yourself
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force that shifts at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene
All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene
Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene
Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now
Well, I heard you been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little world
And brace yourself
Writer: NICHOLAS CAVE
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
I Need You
When you're feeling like a lover
Nothing really matters anymore
I saw you standing there in the supermarket
With your red dress falling and your eyes are to the ground
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters when the one you love is gone
You're still in me, baby
I need you
In my heart, I need you
'Cause nothing really matters
I'm standing in the doorway
You're walking 'round my place
In your red dress, hair hanging down
With your eyes on one, we love the ones we can
'Cause nothing really matters when you're standing
Standing
I need you, need you
'Cause nothing really matters
We follow the line of the palms of our hands
You're standing in the supermarket
Nothing, holding hands
In your red dress, falling, falling in, falling in
A long black car is waiting 'round
I will miss you when you're gone
I'll miss you when you're gone away forever
'Cause nothing really matters
I thought I knew better, so much better
And I need you
I need you
'Cause nothing really matters
On the night we wrecked like a train
Purring cars and pouring rain
Never felt right about it, never again
'Cause nothing really matters
Nothing really matters anymore
Not even today
No matter how hard I try
When you're standing in the aisle
And baby, nothing
Nothing, nothing
I need, I need, I need you
I need you
I need you
Just breathe, just breathe
I need you
Nothing really matters anymore
I saw you standing there in the supermarket
With your red dress falling and your eyes are to the ground
Nothing really matters
Nothing really matters when the one you love is gone
You're still in me, baby
I need you
In my heart, I need you
'Cause nothing really matters
I'm standing in the doorway
You're walking 'round my place
In your red dress, hair hanging down
With your eyes on one, we love the ones we can
'Cause nothing really matters when you're standing
Standing
I need you, need you
'Cause nothing really matters
We follow the line of the palms of our hands
You're standing in the supermarket
Nothing, holding hands
In your red dress, falling, falling in, falling in
A long black car is waiting 'round
I will miss you when you're gone
I'll miss you when you're gone away forever
'Cause nothing really matters
I thought I knew better, so much better
And I need you
I need you
'Cause nothing really matters
On the night we wrecked like a train
Purring cars and pouring rain
Never felt right about it, never again
'Cause nothing really matters
Nothing really matters anymore
Not even today
No matter how hard I try
When you're standing in the aisle
And baby, nothing
Nothing, nothing
I need, I need, I need you
I need you
I need you
Just breathe, just breathe
I need you
Writer: NICHOLAS CAVE
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Distant Sky
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Copyright: Lyrics © Original Writer and Publisher
Skeleton Tree
Sunday morning, skeleton tree
Oh, nothing is for free
In the window, a candle
Well, maybe you can see
Fallen leaves thrown across the sky
A jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
Nothing is for free
I called out, I called out
Right across the sea
But the echo comes back empty
And nothing is for free
Sunday morning, skeleton tree
Pressed against the sky
The jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
And I called out, I called out
Right across the sea
I called out, I called out
That nothing is for free
And it's alright now
And it's alright now
And it's alright now
Oh, nothing is for free
In the window, a candle
Well, maybe you can see
Fallen leaves thrown across the sky
A jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
Nothing is for free
I called out, I called out
Right across the sea
But the echo comes back empty
And nothing is for free
Sunday morning, skeleton tree
Pressed against the sky
The jittery TV
Glowing white like fire
And I called out, I called out
Right across the sea
I called out, I called out
That nothing is for free
And it's alright now
And it's alright now
And it's alright now
Writer: Nicholas Cave, Warren Ellis
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Copyright: Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Skeleton Tree is the sixteenth studio album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 9 September 2016 on Bad Seed Ltd. A follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed album Push the Sky Away (2013), Skeleton Tree was recorded over 18 months at Retreat Recording Studios in Brighton, La Frette Studios in La Frette-sur-Seine and Air Studios in London. It was produced by Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and Nick Launay. During the sessions, Cave's 15-year-old son, Arthur, died from an accidental fall.
Most of the album had been written at the time of Cave's son's death, but several lyrics were amended by Cave during subsequent recording sessions and feature themes of death, loss, and personal grief.
Skeleton Tree's minimal production and "less polished" sound incorporates elements of electronica and ambient music and, like Push the Sky Away, features extensive use of synthesizers, drum machines and loops. Several songs on the album utilise avant-garde techniques, including the use of dissonant musical elements and non-standard song structures. Cave's allegorical and often-improvised lyrics have also been noted to be less narrative and character-based than on previous Bad Seeds albums.
One More Time with Feeling, a documentary film about the aftermath of Cave's son's death and the recording process of Skeleton Tree, accompanied the album's release.
Directed by Andrew Dominik, the film received a limited release and was conceived by Cave to explain the context and themes of Skeleton Tree without conducting interviews with the media. Both the film and the album received widespread critical acclaim. It was the second of only two albums by the band to enter the U.S. Top 30, reaching 27, their highest ranking there to date.
Performed By:
Nick Cave & the Bad SeedsMost of the album had been written at the time of Cave's son's death, but several lyrics were amended by Cave during subsequent recording sessions and feature themes of death, loss, and personal grief.
Skeleton Tree's minimal production and "less polished" sound incorporates elements of electronica and ambient music and, like Push the Sky Away, features extensive use of synthesizers, drum machines and loops. Several songs on the album utilise avant-garde techniques, including the use of dissonant musical elements and non-standard song structures. Cave's allegorical and often-improvised lyrics have also been noted to be less narrative and character-based than on previous Bad Seeds albums.
One More Time with Feeling, a documentary film about the aftermath of Cave's son's death and the recording process of Skeleton Tree, accompanied the album's release.
Directed by Andrew Dominik, the film received a limited release and was conceived by Cave to explain the context and themes of Skeleton Tree without conducting interviews with the media. Both the film and the album received widespread critical acclaim. It was the second of only two albums by the band to enter the U.S. Top 30, reaching 27, their highest ranking there to date.
Genre(s): Avant-garde, ambient, electronica
Length: 39:42
Released: September 9th, 2016
Year: 2016