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Jack the Ripper Lyrics
I got a woman
She rules my house with an iron fist
I got a woman
She rules my house with an iron fist
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
We bed in a bucket of butcher's knives
I awake with a hatchet hanging over my head
Well you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Yeah, you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Well they're hissing under the floorboards
Hanging down in bunches from my roof
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
She rules my house with an iron fist
I got a woman
She rules my house with an iron fist
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
I got a woman
She strikes me down with a fist of lead
We bed in a bucket of butcher's knives
I awake with a hatchet hanging over my head
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Yeah, you know the story of the viper
It's long and lean with poison tooth
Well they're hissing under the floorboards
Hanging down in bunches from my roof
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
I got a woman
She just hollers what she wants from where she is
She screams out Jack the Ripper
Every time I try to give that girl a kiss
Song Info
Submitted by
girgo On May 11, 2004
More Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Red Right Hand
Into My Arms
Where the Wild Roses Grow (feat. Kylie Minogue)
O Children
The Mercy Seat
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this is the most furious sounding song i've ever heard
Agreed. Its almost frighteningly evocative of evil and despair.
Ergo, before you move in with her, make sure she's more than just "nice and kind". Especially if she needs your attention badly (i.e. keeps saying so). After a while, we all want more receiving and less giving... For true love, there'll always be great songs around :)
One of the best songs dealing with a toxic relationship. They've deteriorated to the point that they don't touch or kiss and the woman is at least psychologically abusive and may be physically abusive as well. She's definitely a bully. It appears from the singer's tone that the man in the story is getting increasingly angry and frustrated with the situation.
I agree, is one of the finest Cave songs. One interpretation which comes to my mind is based on the title. Why "Jack The Ripper"? Is it just because a nerdy joke inside of this song? You can say that, but what if this is about THE Jack the Ripper? He himself is the narrator and angry about one of his victims which fits back while he's torturing her. And she fights back with style, with anger and aggression like he himself has. So I like both interpretations, the one with that real ugly partnership, and mine here, the worldview from the madman's head.
Because this song is from the narrators perspective, I think the narrator is trying to justify his actions.