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Nocturama Lyrics
I pass by silent tiger
The ailing ape
The forgotten llama
The penguin face down in the water
I retreat into the nocturama
When will I ever be your husband?
When will you ever be my bride?
When will you take me from this place
Where hope and hopeless miss-collide?
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Again and again
Baby I'm not that strong
I got a chain around my ankle
And it's dragging me down
Oh nothing moves behind the glass
Deep inside this artificial night
The tiny eyes blink from the darkness
Saying everything will be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
But again and again
Baby I'm not that tough
When night falls round here
It's never night enough
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Well it will be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
To be by your side
To be by your side
The ailing ape
The forgotten llama
The penguin face down in the water
I retreat into the nocturama
When will I ever be your husband?
When will you ever be my bride?
When will you take me from this place
Where hope and hopeless miss-collide?
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Again and again
Baby I'm not that strong
I got a chain around my ankle
And it's dragging me down
Oh nothing moves behind the glass
Deep inside this artificial night
The tiny eyes blink from the darkness
Saying everything will be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
But again and again
Baby I'm not that tough
When night falls round here
It's never night enough
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Well it will be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
It'll be all right
To be by your side
To be by your side
Song Info
Submitted by
smallwonderrobot On Apr 23, 2005
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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FoiNaCruz, a nocturama is something they have in zoos. It's a special area which is kept nearly dark during the daytime so the nocturnal animals are fooled into going about their daily routine. Otherwise the visitors would never get to see them! This seems to be a particularly grim zoo as all the animals are miserable, sick or dead; but in the nocturama everything seems OK. Weird.
best track on B-Sides And Rarities Volume III. anyone where is nocturama??
I like how this is the title track of the album it never appeared on.
This sounds like the singer is also a part of the zoo (the chain around his ankle, him mentioning how he wants out).
Although it can be read literally, it almost sounds like a metaphor for fame.
The lines "When will you take me from this place Where hope and hopelessness collide?" are pleading whomever he is addressing in the song.
It is tempting to see this as autobiographical but sometimes a song is just a song. The way Cave is singing here is wonderful, however.