The Boatman’s Call
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
1997 ReleasedUpvote Your Favorite Album Today!
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Digging into The Boatman’s Call - what's your favorite track or standout moment? 🤘
1
Into My Arms
04 : 15
2
Lime Tree Arbour
02 : 56
3
People Ain’t No Good
05 : 42
4
Brompton Oratory
04 : 06
5
There Is a Kingdom
04 : 52
6
(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?
04 : 05
7
Where Do We Go Now but Nowhere?
05 : 45
8
West Country Girl
02 : 45
9
Black Hair
04 : 14
10
Idiot Prayer
04 : 21
11
Far From Me
05 : 33
12
Green Eyes
03 : 32
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Track Lyrics
Into My Arms Lyrics
[Verse 1]
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
Oh, not to touch a hair on your head
Leave you as you are
If he felt he had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms
[Chorus]
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
[Verse 2]
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
Oh, 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
[Chorus]
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
[Verse 3]
But 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'll keep returning
Always and evermore
[Chorus]
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms, O Lord
Into my arms
Lime Tree Arbour Lyrics
[Verse 1]
The boatman calls from the lake
A lone loon dives upon the water
I put my hand over her
Down in the lime tree arbour
The wind in the trees is whispering
Whispering low that I love her
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour
[Chorus]
Through every breath that I breathe and every place I go
Well, there is a hand that protects me
And I do love her so
[Verse 2]
There will always be suffering
It flows through life like water
I put my hand over hers
Down in the lime tree arbour
The boatman, he has gone
The loons have flown for cover
She puts her hand over mine
Down in the lime tree arbour
[Chorus]
Through every word that I speak and everything I know
Well, there is a hand that protects me
And I do love her so
People Ain’t No Good Lyrics
[Verse 1]
People just ain't no good
I think that's well understood
You can see it everywhere you look
People just ain't no good
[Verse 2]
We were married under cherry trees
Under blossom we made our vows
All the blossoms come sailing down
Through the streets and through the playgrounds
[Verse 3]
The sun would stream on the sheets
Awoken by the morning bird
We'd buy the Sunday newspapers
And never read a single word
[Chorus]
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good
[Verse 4]
Seasons came, seasons went
The winter stripped the blossoms bare
A different tree now lines the streets
Shaking its fists in the air
[Verse 5]
The winter slammed us like a fist
The windows rattlin' in the gales
To which she drew the curtains
Made out of her wedding veils
[Chorus]
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good at all
[Verse 6]
To our love, send a dozen white lilies
To our love, send a coffin of wood
To our love, let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo
That people, they just ain't no good
[Verse 7]
To our love, send back all the letters
To our love, a valentine of blood
To our love, let all the jilted lovers cry
That people, they just ain't no good
[Verse 8]
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you're ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
[Verse 9]
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They'd stick by you if they could
Ah, but that's just bullshit, baby
People just ain't no good
[Chorus]
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good at all
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good
People, they ain't no good at all
Brompton Oratory Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Up those stone steps I climb
Hail this joyful day's return
Into its great shadowed vault I go
Hail the Pentecostal morn
The reading is from Luke 24
Where Christ returns to his loved ones
I look at the stone apostles
Think that it's alright for some
[Verse 2]
And I wish that I was made of stone
So that I would not have to see
A beauty impossible to define
A beauty impossible to believe
A beauty impossible to endure
The blood imparted in little sips
The smell of you still on my hands as I
Bring the cup up to my lips
[Verse 3]
No God up in the sky
And no devil beneath the sea
Could do the job that you did, baby
Of bringing me to my knees
Outside I sit on the stone steps
With nothing much to do
Forlorn and exhausted, baby
By the absence of you
There Is a Kingdom Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Just like a bird that sings up the sun
In a dawn so very dark
Such is my faith for you
Such is my faith
All the world's darkness can't swallow up
A single spark
Such is my love for you
Such is my love
[Chorus]
There is a kingdom, there is a king
And he lives without, and he lives within
There is a kingdom, there is a king
And he lives without, and he lives within
[Verse 2]
The starry heavens above me
The moral law within
So the world appears
So the world appears
This day so sweet
It will never come again
So the world appears
Through this mist of tears
[Chorus]
There is a kingdom, there is a king
And he lives without, and he lives within
There is a kingdom, there is a king
And he lives without, and he lives within
[Bridge]
The starry heavens above me
And the moral law within
So the world appears
Through this mist of tears
[Chorus]
There is a kingdom, there is a king
And he lives without, and he lives within
There is a kingdom, there is a king
There is a king, and he is everything
(Are You) The One That I’ve Been Waiting For? Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I've felt you coming, girl, as you drew near
I knew you'd find me 'cause I longed you here
Are you my destiny? Is this how you'll appear?
Wrapped in a coat with the tears in your eyes?
Well, take that coat, babe, and throw it on the floor
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
[Verse 2]
As you've been moving surely toward me
My soul has comforted and assured me
Well, that in time my heart, it will reward me
And that all will be revealed
So I've sat and I've watched an ice age thaw
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
[Verse 3]
Out of sorrow entire worlds have been built
Out of longing great wonders have been willed
They're only little tears, darling, let them spill
And lay your head upon my shoulder
Outside my window the world has gone to war
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
[Bridge]
Oh, we will know, won't we?
The stars will explode in the sky
But they don't, do they?
Stars have their moment and then they die
[Verse 4]
There's a man who spoke wonders though I've never met him
He said, "He who seeks finds and who knocks will be let in"
I think of you in motion and just how close you are getting
And how every little thing anticipates you
All down my veins my heartstrings call
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
Are you the one that I've been waiting for?
Black Hair Lyrics
[Verse]
Last night my kisses were banked in black hair
And in my bed my lover, her hair was midnight black
And all her mystery dwelled within her black hair
And her black hair framed a happy heart-shaped face
And heavy hooded eyes inside her black hair
Shined at me from the depths of her hair of deepest black
While my fingers pushed into her straight black hair
Pulling her black hair back from her happy heart-shaped face
To kiss her milk-white throat, a dark curtain of black hair
Smothered me, my lover with her beautiful black hair
The smell of it is heavy, it is charged with life
On my fingers the smell of her deep black hair
Full of all my whispered words, her black hair
And wet with tears and goodbyes, her hair of deepest black
All my tears cried against her milk-white throat
Hidden behind the curtain of her beautiful, beautiful, black hair
As deep as ink and black, black as the deepest sea
The smell of her black hair upon my pillow
Where her head and all its black hair did rest
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
Today she took a train to the West
Idiot Prayer Lyrics
[Verse 1]
They're taking me down, my friend
And as they usher me off to my end
Will I bid you adieu?
Or will I be seeing you soon?
If what they say around here is true
Then we'll meet again
Me and you
[Verse 2]
My time is at hand, my dove
They're gonna pass me to that house above
Is Heaven just for victims, dear?
Where only those in pain go?
Well, it takes two to tango
We will meet again, my love, I know
[Verse 3]
If you're in Heaven then you'll forgive me, dear
Because that's what they do up there
If you're in Hell, then what can I say?
You probably deserved it anyway
I guess I'm gonna find out any day
For we'll meet again
And there'll be Hell to pay
[Verse 4]
Your face comes to me from the depths, dear
Your silent mouth mouths, 'Yes", dear
Dark red and big with blood
They're gonna shut me down, my love
They're gonna launch me into the stars
Well, all things come to pass
Glory hallelujah
[Verse 5]
This prayer is for you, my love
Sent on the wings of a dove
An idiot prayer of empty words
Love, dear, is strictly for the birds
We each get what we deserve
My little snow white dove
Rest assured
Far From Me Lyrics
[Verse 1]
For you, dear, I was born
For you I was raised up
For you I've lived and for you I will die
For you I am dying now
You were my mad little lover
In a world where everybody fucks everybody else over
[Chorus]
You who are so far from me
So far from me
Way across some cold neurotic sea
Far from me
[Verse 2]
I would talk to you of all matter of things
With a smile you would reply
Then the sun would leave your pretty face
And you'd retreat from the front of your eyes
I keep hearing that you're doing your best
I hope your heart beats happy in your infant breast
[Chorus]
You are so far from me
Far from me
Far from me
[Verse 3]
There is no knowledge but I know it
There's nothing to learn from that vacant voice
That sails to me across the line
From the ridiculous to the sublime
It's good to hear you're doing so well
But really can't you find somebody else that you can ring and tell?
[Chorus]
Did you ever care for me?
Were you ever there for me?
So far from me
[Verse 4]
You told me you'd stick by me
Through the thick and through the thin
Those were your very words
My fair-weather friend
You were my brave-hearted lover
At the first taste of trouble went running back to mother
[Chorus]
So far from me
Far from me
Suspended in your bleak and fishless sea
Far from me
Far from me
Green Eyes Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Kiss me again, rekiss me and kiss me
Slip your frigid hands beneath my shirt
This useless old fucker with his twinkling cunt
Doesn't care if he gets hurt
[Chorus]
Green eyes, oh, green eyes
Green eyes, green eyes
[Verse 2]
If it were but a matter of faith
If it were measured in petitions and prayer
She would materialize, all fleshed out
But it is not, nor do I care, nor do I care
[Chorus]
Green eyes, oh, green eyes
Green eyes, green eyes
[Verse 3]
So hold me and hold me, don't tell me your name
This morning will be wiser than this evening is
Then leave me to my enemied dreams
And be quiet as you are leaving, miss
[Chorus]
Green eyes
Green eyes, green eyes
Green eyes, oh, green eyes