CAVE, Nick

The Ship Song

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down

We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Come loose your dogs upon me
And let your hair hang down
You are a little mystery to me
Every time you come around

We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything, it comes tumbling down

Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around

Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly

The Mercy seat

It began when they come took me from my home

And put me in Dead Row,

Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.

And I'll say it again

I.. am.. not.. afraid.. to.. die.

I began to warm and chill

To objects and their fields,

A ragged cup, a twisted mop

The face of Jesus in my soup

Those sinister dinner deals

The meal trolley's wicked wheels

A hooked bone rising from my food

All things either good or ungood.

And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be done with all this measuring of proof.

An eye for an eye

A tooth for a tooth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to die.

Interpret signs and catalogue

A blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.

The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.

They are sick breath at my hind

They are sick breath gathering at my hind

I hear stories from the chamber

How Christ was born into a manger

And like some ragged stranger

Died upon the cross

And might I say, it seems so fitting in its way

He was a carpenter by trade

Or at least that's what I'm told

Like my good hand

tattooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist

That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.

In Heaven His throne is made of gold

The ark of his Testament is stowed

A throne from which I'm told

All history does unfold.

Down here it's made of wood and wire

And my body is on fire

And God is never far away.

Into the mercy seat I climb

My head is shaved, my head is wired

And like a moth that tries

To enter the bright eye

So I go shuffling out of life

Just to hide in death awhile

And anyway I never lied.

My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.

Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.

'Tis a long-suffering shackle

Collaring all that devil blood.

And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a way I’m yearning

To be done with all this measuring of truth.

And an eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And anyway I told the truth

And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is burning

And I think my head is glowing

And in a way I’m hoping

To be done with all this weighing up of truth.

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And I’ve got nothing left to lose

And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is glowing

And I think my head is smoking

And in a way I’m hoping

To be done with all these looks of disbelief.

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And anyway there was no proof

Nor a motive why.

And the mercy seat is smoking

And I think my head is melting

And in a way I’m helping

To be done with all this twisting of the truth.

A lie for a lie

And a truth for a truth

And I’ve got nothing left to lose

And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is melting

And I think my blood is boiling

And in a way I’m spoiling

All the fun with all this truth and consequence.

An eye for an eye

An a truth for a truth

And anyway I told the truth

And I’m not afraid to die.

And the mercy seat is waiting
…..

Into my arms

I don't believe in an interventionist God

But I know, darling, that you do

But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him

Not to intervene when it came to you

Not to touch a hair on your head

To leave you as you are

And if He felt He had to direct you

Then direct you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord, into my arms

…..
And I don't believe in the existence of angels

But looking at you I wonder if that's true

But if I did I would summon them together

And ask them to watch over you

To each burn a candle for you

To make bright and clear your path

And to walk, like Christ, in grace and love

And guide you into my arms

Into my arms, O Lord, into my arms

I believe in Love

And I know that you do too

And I believe in some kind of path

That we can walk down, me and you

So keep your candles burning

And make her journey bright and pure

That she will keep returning

Always and evermore

Into my arms, O Lord, into my arms

The Gates to the Garden

Past the ivy-covered windows of

The Angel

Down Athenaeum Lane to the cathedral

Through the churchyard I wandered

Sat for a spell there and I pondered

My back to the gates

My back to the gates.... of the garden

Fugitive fathers, sickly infants, decent mothers

Runaways and suicidal lovers

Assorted boxes of ordinary bones

Of aborted plans and sudden shattered hopes

In unlucky rows

In unhappy rows

In unlucky rows, up to the gates of the garden

Won't you meet me at the gates

To the garden

Beneath the creeping shadow of the tower

The bell from St. Edmunds informs me of the hour

I turn to find you waiting there for me

In sunlight and I see the way that you breathe

All alive and leaning

Alive and leaning

All alive and leaning on the gates of the garden

Leave these ancient places to the angels

Let the saints attend to their keeping of the cathedrals

And leave the dead beneath the ground so cold

For God is in this hand that I hold

As we open up the gates

As we open up the gates of the garden

Won't you meet me at the gates

To the garden

And No More Shall We Part

And no more shall we part
It will no longer be necessary
And no more will I say, dear heart
I am alone and she has left me

And no more shall we part
The contracts are drawn up,
The ring is locked upon the finger
And never again will my letters start
Sadly, or in the depths of winter

And no more shall we part
All the hatchets have been buried now
And all of birds will sing to your
beautiful heart
Upon the bough

And no more shall we part
Your chain of command
Has been silenced now
And all of those birds
Would've sung to your beautiful heart
Anyhow

Lord, stay by me
Don't go down
I will never be free
If I'm not free now

Lord, stay by me
Don't go down
I never was free
What are you talking about?

For no more shall we part
And no more shall we part

The Weeping Song

Go son, go down to the water
And see the women weeping there
Then go up into the mountains
The men, they are weeping too

Father, why are all the women weeping?
They are all weeping for their men
Then why are all the men there weeping?
They are weeping back at them

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the men and women sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long

Father, why are all the children weeping?
They are merely crying son
O, are they merely crying, father?
Yes, true weeping is yet to come

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While all the little children sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long

O father tell me, are you weeping?
Your face seems wet to touch
O then I'm so sorry, father
I never thought I hurt you so much

This is a weeping song
A song in which to weep
While we rock ourselves to sleep
This is a weeping song
But I won't be weeping long
But I won't be …..