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The Mercy Beat Lyrics
There's a high wind blowin'
And the stars are shining bright
Oh what a night this is gonna be
I think I'll let the world sleep without me
I got one eye open
One eye closed
And my thin body's trembling beneath the bedclothes
My heart's beatin' against the roof of my mouth
It's almost time to get out of this house
I got one hand on the radio
One hand on the wheel
I got my right foot on the floorboard
I'm prepared to kill or be killed
There's a high wind blowin'
And the stars are shining bright
And the rain upon the tarmac
Helps me sail through the traffic lights
I'm heading down to the dock of the bay
To feel the power of the waves
I'm gonna move up closer to that wind
And wrestle with the thoughts solitude always brings
You see I'm stuck between hell and the deep blue sea
And I know that water's sucked under better man than me
I was just another western guy
With desires that couldn't be satisfied
One day I asked the angels for inspiration
The devil bought me a drink
And he's been buying them ever since
He's had the liquor on my tongue
Feel like the sea upon the sand
He's had me signing confessions
From this shaking hand
He's had me struggling to hang onto hope
Like a drunken sailor in a tugboat
With a bottle of vodka in my overcoat
And my dog eared bible lost overboard
You see he tricked me into temptation
So I've tricked him into this confrontation
I never said I was the man I appeared to be
Not the flesh wrapped around the bones of necessity
Or the soul on fire
Scribbling thoughts for posterity
I'm gonna have little Lucifer runnin' off to purgatory
With his tail between his legs
I'm gonna teach him a lesson
He ain't ever gonna forget
All the vultures and crows are fixin' up some tombstones
They won't be chewing the meat off my bones
There's a high wind blowin'
And the stars are shining bright
Me and him are gonna have a little knife fight
In the bowels of the big city skyline
Oh this feelin' inside runs dark and deep
Tonight my hearts not thumping
A Mercy Beat
I was just another western guy
With desires that can't be satisfied
Oh what a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
What a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
Oh what a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
And the stars are shining bright
Oh what a night this is gonna be
I think I'll let the world sleep without me
I got one eye open
One eye closed
And my thin body's trembling beneath the bedclothes
My heart's beatin' against the roof of my mouth
It's almost time to get out of this house
One hand on the wheel
I got my right foot on the floorboard
I'm prepared to kill or be killed
There's a high wind blowin'
And the stars are shining bright
And the rain upon the tarmac
Helps me sail through the traffic lights
I'm heading down to the dock of the bay
To feel the power of the waves
I'm gonna move up closer to that wind
And wrestle with the thoughts solitude always brings
And I know that water's sucked under better man than me
I was just another western guy
With desires that couldn't be satisfied
One day I asked the angels for inspiration
The devil bought me a drink
And he's been buying them ever since
He's had the liquor on my tongue
Feel like the sea upon the sand
He's had me signing confessions
From this shaking hand
He's had me struggling to hang onto hope
Like a drunken sailor in a tugboat
With a bottle of vodka in my overcoat
And my dog eared bible lost overboard
So I've tricked him into this confrontation
I never said I was the man I appeared to be
Not the flesh wrapped around the bones of necessity
Or the soul on fire
Scribbling thoughts for posterity
I'm gonna have little Lucifer runnin' off to purgatory
With his tail between his legs
I'm gonna teach him a lesson
He ain't ever gonna forget
All the vultures and crows are fixin' up some tombstones
They won't be chewing the meat off my bones
And the stars are shining bright
Me and him are gonna have a little knife fight
In the bowels of the big city skyline
Oh this feelin' inside runs dark and deep
Tonight my hearts not thumping
A Mercy Beat
With desires that can't be satisfied
Oh what a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
What a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
Oh what a night this is gonna be
The world can sleep without me
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Forgive the cliche, but this is a guy wrestling with his demons - literally. 'The devil bought me a drink and he's been buying them ever since'. He is suffering the consequences of his temptation (whether it really is Lucifer, or the drink or something else, he's suffering) but he has steeled himself and he's going to take things on. He's looking forward to the conflict and he's sure of victory. Great song, and I love the play on the 'Mersey Beat' from the 1960s.
This song is a monster. When I listen to it now I freak out that one song can have so many great lines. "I was just another western guy with desires that can\'t be satisfied". And my favorite "me and him are gonna have a little night fight". Just a really powerful song from Matt Johnson, a mad genius.