| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – O'Malley's Bar Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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I know all the comments here are ancient and I'm late to the party, but I don't think he is crazy or rambling at all. I think he believes himself to be the Red Right Hand" of God, something that ties nicely with the theme of other Nick's songs, and believes that he is guided by God to execute judgement on all the so to speak useless despicable people who have no true purpose to show the world the error of its ways. He does see himself an avenging angel, he mentions wings and feathers and his own higher purpose many times, and how he is not morally culpable because he believes himself to be guided by the higher force. But as the massacre progresses, we see signs that he is simply on a power trip of his life, he is insecure ( he is clearly upset that no one noticed him all these years), he mentioned repeatedly how his victims look like dumb fishes, dull, fat and lazy, etc., he literally gets a hard on watching himself dish out death, and in the end he can't shake off remorse as he says it himself. So the illusion was there to hide the real truth about himself: He feels like nothing, and the only way for him to feel like someone would be to inflict pain. He wants appreciation, but nobody is in awe of him-everyone is dead. In the end, we see his false identity crumble when he chooses to be apprehended vs. going out bravely via dramatic suicide. |
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| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Kindness of Strangers Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| I think it's more of a premonition rather than her conscious desire to die. Also, "the kindness of strangers" is a quote from the Streetcar Named Desire where in the end, betrayed by everyone in her life, Blanche says something like that she "always relied on the kindness of strangers". Mary is naïve and feels alone in the big world she always wanted to see, she is used to her home town and people who don't mean her harm, so she doesn't suspect any foul intent when she opens the door for the man who I think she lets in out of simply not wanting to be lonely. When she says that she might die after seeing the ocean, it means that it's breathtaking and the greatest accomplishment of her life, which becomes prophetic. | |
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