Up Jumped the Devil by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Up Jumped the Devil by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Up Jumped the Devil

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds * Track #2 On Tender Prey

Download "Up Jumped the Devil"

Up Jumped the Devil by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Release Date
Mon Sep 19 1988
Produced by
Flood & Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Writed by
Blixa Bargeld & Mick Harvey & Nick Cave
About

Up Jumped The Devil is the second Track on Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' 1988 album Tender Prey. The song’s lyrics tell the story of a man who lives a life of sin and is followed and influenced by the devil throughout his whole life.

This song received a further boost in popularity in 2010 when it w...

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Up Jumped the Devil Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Oh my, oh my, what a wretched life
I was born on the day that my poor mamma died
I was cut from her belly with a Stanley knife
My daddy did a jig with the drunk midwife

[Chorus]
Who's that yonder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that yonder all in flames
Up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim on me

[Verse 2]
Oh poor heart, I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play the villain's part
I was the baddest Johnny in the apple cart
My blood was blacker than the chambers of a dead nun's heart

[Chorus]
Who's that milling round the courthouse steps?
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling round the courthouse steps?
Up jumped the Devil and off we crept

[Verse 3]
Oh no, oh no, where could I go
With my hump of trouble and my sack of woe?
To the digs and deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safe from the lynching rope

[Chorus]
Who's that yonder laughing at me?
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that yonder laughing at me?
Well, up jumped the Devil, one, two, three

[Verse 4]
Ha-ha ha ha ha, how lucky we were
We hit the cathouse and sampled their wares
We got as drunk as a couple of czars
That night I swatted my lucky star

[Chorus]
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof?
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof?
Up jumped the Devil and said "Here is your man, I got proof"

[Verse 5]
Oh no, oh no, don't go, oh slow down Joe
The righteous path is straight as an arrow
Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me

[Chorus]
Who's that hanging from the gallow tree?
His eyes are plucked but he looks like me
Now, who's that swinging from the gallow tree?
Up jumped the Devil and took my soul from me

[Outro]
Down, down, down, down we go
Down we go, down we go, down we go
The Devil and me
Down we go, down we go, down we go
Down, down, down, The Devil and me
Down we go, down we go, for eternity, down we go
Down we go, yeah down we go, down we go
Down, down, down, down we go
Down we go, down we go, the Devil and me
Down we go, down we go

Up Jumped the Devil Q&A

Who wrote Up Jumped the Devil's ?

Up Jumped the Devil was written by Blixa Bargeld & Mick Harvey & Nick Cave.

Who produced Up Jumped the Devil's ?

Up Jumped the Devil was produced by Flood & Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

When did Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds release Up Jumped the Devil?

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released Up Jumped the Devil on Mon Sep 19 1988.

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