The Mercy Seat
It began when they come took me from my homeAnd put me in Dead Row,Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.And I'll say it againI..am..not..afraid..to..die.
I began to warm and chillTo objects and their fields,A ragged cup, a twisted mopThe face of Jesus in my soupThose sinister dinner mealsThe meal trolley's wicked wheelsA hooked bone rising from my foodAll things either good or ungood.
And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of truth.An eye for an eyeA tooth for a toothAnd anyway I told the truthAnd I'm not afraid to die.
Interpret signs and catalogueA blackened tooth, a scarlet fog.The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.They are sick breath at my hindThey are sick breath at my hindThey are sick breath at my hindThey are sick breath gathering at my hind
I hear stories from the chamberHow Christ was born into a mangerAnd like some ragged strangerDied upon the crossAnd might I say it seems so fitting in its wayHe was a carpenter by tradeOr at least that's what I'm told
Like my good hand Itatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fistThat filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resist.
In Heaven His throne is made of goldThe ark of his Testament is stowedA throne from which I'm toldAll history does unfold.Down here it's made of wood and wireAnd my body is on fireAnd God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climbMy head is shaved, my head is wiredAnd like a moth that triesTo enter the bright eyeI go shuffling out of lifeJust to hide in death awhileAnd anyway I never lied.
My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.`Tis a long-suffering shackleCollaring all that rebel blood.
And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of truth.An eye for an eyeAnd a tooth for a toothAnd anyway I told the truthAnd I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is burningAnd I think my head is glowingAnd in a way I'm hopingTo be done with all this weighing up of truth.An eye for an eyeAnd a tooth for a toothAnd I've got nothing left to loseAnd I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is glowingAnd I think my head is smokingAnd in a way I'm hopingTo be done with all this looks of disbelief.An eye for an eyeAnd a tooth for a toothAnd anyway there was no proofNor a motive why.
And the mercy seat is smokingAnd I think my head is meltingAnd in a way I'm helpingTo be done with all this twisted of the truth.A lie for a lieAnd a truth for a truthAnd I've got nothing left to loseAnd I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is meltingAnd I think my blood is boilingAnd in a way I'm spoilingAll the fun with all this truth and consequence.An eye for an eyeAnd a truth for a truthAnd anyway I told the truthAnd I'm not afraid to die.
And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of proof.A life for a lifeAnd a truth for a truthAnd anyway there was no proofBut I'm not afraid to tell a lie.
And the mercy seat is waitingAnd I think my head is burningAnd in a way I'm yearningTo be done with all this measuring of truth.An eye for an eyeAnd a truth for a truthAnd anyway I told the truthBut I'm afraid I told a lie.