The Lyre Of Orpheus lyrics

Song information

Artist: Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
Album: Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus

Lyrics

Orpheus sat gloomy in his garden shed
Wondering what to do
With a lump of wood, a piece of wire
And a little pot of glue
O mamma o mamma

He sawed at the wood with half a heart
And glued it top to bottom
He strung a wire in between
He was feeling something rotten
O mamma o mamma

Orpheus looked at his instrument
And he gave the wire a pluck
He heard a sound so beautiful
He gasped and said o my god
O mamma o mamma

He rushed inside to tell his wife
He went racing down the halls
Eurydice was still asleep in bed
Like a sack of cannonballs
O mamma o mamma

Look what I've made, cried orpheus
And he plucked a gentle note
Eurydice's eyes popped from their sockets
And her tongue burst through her throat
O mamma o mamma

O god, what have I done, he said
As her blood pooled in the sheets
But in his heart he felt a bliss
With which nothing could compete
O mamma o mamma

Orpheus went leaping through the fields
Strumming as hard as he did please
Birdies detonated in the sky
Bunnies dashed their brains out on the trees
O mamma o mamma

Orpheus strummed till his fingers bled
He hit a g minor 7
He woke up god from a deep, deep sleep
God was a major player in heaven
O mamma o mamma

God picked up a giant hammer
And he threw it with an thunderous yell
It smashed down hard on orpheus' head
And knocked him down a well
O mamma o mamma

The well went down very deep
Very deep went down the well
The well went down so very deep
Well, the well went down to hell
O mamma o mamma

Poor orpheus woke up with a start
All amongst the rotting dead
His lyre tacked safe under his arm
His brains all down his head
O mamma o mamma

Eurydice appeared brindled in blood
And she said to orpheus
If you play that fucking thing down here
I'll stick it up your orifice!
O mamma o mamma

This lyre lark is for the birds, said orpheus
It's enough to send you bats
Let's stay down here, eurydice, dear
And we'll have a bunch of screaming brats
O mamma o mamma

Orpheus picked up his lyre for the last time
He was on a real low down bummer
And stared deep into the abyss and said
This one is for mamma

O mamma o mamma
O mamma o mamma