O'Malley's Bar (reprise) Lyrics & Tabs by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
O'Malley's Bar (reprise)
guitar chords lyrics
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 a certain light
Well I entered into O’Malley’s
I 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
When it returned, it fairly burned
My hand decided that the time was nigh
And for a moment it slipped from view
When it returned, it fairly burned
With confidence anew
Well the thunder from my steely fist
Made all the glasses jangle
When I shot him, I was so handsome
It was the light, it was the angle
Huh! Hmm...
“[Neighbours!]” I cried, “[Friends!]” I screamed
I banged my fists upon the bar
“[I bear no grudge against you!]”
And my dick felt long and hard
“[I am the man for which no God waitsBut for which the whole world yearnsAnd I’m marked by darkness and by bloodAnd by a thousand powder-burns]”
Well, you know those fish with the swollen lips
That clean the ocean floor
When I looked at poor old O’Malley’s wife
Well that’s exactly what I saw
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
And her little daughter Siobhan
Pulled beers from dusk till down
And amongst the town folk 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 mother fucker down
Mmm... Yeah, yeah, yeah...
“[I have no free will]”, I sang
And 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 IBe morally culpable?]” I wonder
I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach
Gingerly he sat down
And he whispered weirdly, “[No offence]”
And then lay upon the ground
“[None taken]”, I replied to him
To which he gave a little cough
And with blazing wings I neatly aimed
Blew his head completely off
I’ve lived in this town for thirty years
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. Brooks
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
Hmm mmm yeah
Yeah! Listen, listen...
I said, “[I want to introduce myselfAnd I am glad that all you came]”
And I leapt upon the bar
And I shouted down 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 its edge on the counter
Wiped the tears away and looked
Well, the light in there it was blinding
Full of God and ghosts and truth
And I smiled at Henry Davenport
Who made no attempt to move
Well, from the position I was standing
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 to every thing
From the raven hair upon my head
To the feathers on my wings
Then I squeezed my hand in its fraudulent claw
With its 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 live in your street?]” I said
And he looked at me like I was crazy
“[Oh]”, he said, “[I had no idea]”
And he grew as quiet as a mouse
Well the roar of the pistol when it went off
Near blew the hat right off the house
Hmm uh hmm uh hmm uh
Yeah, peah
Hmm mmm ha ah...
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 then 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,
I spun to the left again
“[Fear me! Fear me! Fear me!]”
But no one did cause they were dead
Huh! Hmm
Oh oh yeah! Hmm!
Mmm hmmm mmm hmmm yeah
And then there were the police sirens wailing and
And then a bull-horn squelched and blared
“[Drop your weapons and come outWith 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 bravely 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 round 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
Aaaaah one aaaaaah two aaaaaaah three aaaaaah
Mmmmmmm O’Malley’s bar
Mmmmmmm O’Malley’s bar
Mmmmmmm O’Malley’s bar...
