Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
The most likely source for this song is the poem “Song for a Phallus” by Ted Hughes (The Life and Songs of the Crow (1971). It also deals with a figure from Greek mythology, Oedipus, in a violent, comedic way, the meter is exactly the same, and the chorus is directly lifted from the poem. First stan...
[Verse 1]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 2]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 3]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 4]
He rushed inside to tell his wife
He went racing down the halls
Eurydice was still asleep in bed
Like a sack of cannonballs
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 5]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 6]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 7]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 8]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 9]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 10]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 11]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 12]
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!
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 13]
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
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
[Verse 14]
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 Mama
[Chorus]
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
O Mama
The Lyre of Orpheus was written by Jim Sclavunos & Martyn P. Casey & Warren Ellis & Nick Cave.
The Lyre of Orpheus was produced by Nick Launay.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released The Lyre of Orpheus on Mon Sep 20 2004.