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They're taking me down, my friend
And as they uskher 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
My time is at hand, my dove
They're gunna 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
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 in anyway
I guess I'm gunna find out any day
For we'll meet again
And there'll be Hell to pay
Your face comes to me from the depths, dear
Your silent mouth mouths, 'Yes", dear
Dark red and big with blood
They're gunna shut me down, my love
They're gunna launch me into the stars
Well, all things come to pass
Glory hallelujah
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
And as they uskher 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
My time is at hand, my dove
They're gunna 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
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 in anyway
I guess I'm gunna find out any day
For we'll meet again
And there'll be Hell to pay
Your face comes to me from the depths, dear
Your silent mouth mouths, 'Yes", dear
Dark red and big with blood
They're gunna shut me down, my love
They're gunna launch me into the stars
Well, all things come to pass
Glory hallelujah
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
Lyrics submitted by Dressed2Depress
Track duration: 04:22
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It seems about a couple who separated. At the beginning he isn't really sure if they will see each other again- Will I bid you adieu or will be seeing you soon- then later he's sure that they will- I know, my love...
Could be that he's feeling time passing as he's thinking about his end. I can also sense a bit of bitterness when he says- if you are in hell you probably deserve it anyway...but he says later we each get what we deserve, including probably himself as well.
Love's strictly for the birds is my favourite line..
"Love, dear, is strictly for the birds"
"If you're in hell, then what can I say, you probably deserved it anyway"
I didn't think about the possibility of these words being spoken by a man about to be executed. It makes sense to me now. I thought he might be on the verge of dying, remembering his deceased lover. I feel that the narrator might be a bit short on mental sanity, all the "dears", "doves" and, even worse, that last "my little snow white dove" seem to suggest a perverse tenderness, or maybe it's a way for him to try to calm the guilt he feels for killing her. Or maybe both. I'm not sure on a possible meaning, but I love this song anyway.
I think this song more about scorn minus those other things. It is a candid portrayal of an ego vying to survive after being somewhat crushed and mangled. It is concerned with the vindication it's self and the condemnation of the sins those whome contributed to its sorry state. Dejected and imersed in gloom the ego condems love and the lover, and takes its revenge.
(perhaps the recipient is partially to blame for this person's passing?)
In the ending:
"We each get what we deserve...My little...dove"
"Rest assured"
I sense a sinister facetiousness made all the more dark by the use of old terms of endearment.
Their wish is not good for the recipient of this plea, and the reader chides himself by calling his supplications and "Idiot Prayer". He's angry, but he knows his furor and intentions are whispers to the howling winds of life.
Nonetheless, he wonders (as he surely must!) what they might feel meeting again beyond words, beyond flesh, beyond life.
Typical Nick Cave fair, and bless him for it. I only wish he could chime in here and give some thoughts on all of our crazy interps. I know he'd dig seeing the variety of interpretations.