1
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
I'm enquirin on behalf of his soul
I'd be beholdin to ya all
For a lil' information, just a little indication
Just who will dig the hole?
When ya done ransackin' his room
Grabbin' any damn thing that shines
Throw the scraps down on the street
Like all his books and his notes
All his books and his notes and
All the junk that he wrote
Whole fuckin' lot right up in smoke
Well ain't there nothin' sacred anymore
Won't someone will build a box for Black Paul?
They're shootin' off his guns
And they're shootin' off their mouths
Saying "Fuck with us and die"
"Fuck with us and die"
(Let's see that rat of fear go scuttle in their skulls)
"Cover that eye, cover that frozen eye"
Poor Paul
Blood-puppet, in a heap up against the stoning-wall
Black-puppet, go to sleep, mama won't scold ya anymore
Armies of ants, wade up the little red streams
Heading for the mother-pool
Oh lord, it's cruel
Oh man it's hot
Oh man it's hot
And some of those ants they just climb to the spot
Who threw the first stone at Black Paul?
"Don't ask us", say the critics and the hacks
The pen-pushers and the quacks
"We just come to get the facts"
"We just come to get the facts"
Uh huh, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Here is the hammer, that built the scaffold
And built the box
Here is the shovel, that dug the hole
In this ground of rocks
And here is the pile of stones
And for each one planted, God only knows
A blood-rose grown
Oh listen
These are the true Demon-Flowers
These are the true Demon-Flowers
Stand back everyone
Blood-black everyone
(Blood-black)
(Stand back)
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
And who'll carry it up the hill?
"Not I", said the widow, adjusting her veil
"I will not drive the nail
Or cart his puppet-body home
For I done that one hundred times before
Uh, it's one hundred times or more
And why should ah dress his wounds?
When he has wounded my dress, nightly
Right across the floor"
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Who'll carry it up the hill?
Now who'll bury him in the black-soil?
From the woods and the thickets
Come the ghosts of his victims
"We love you"
"I love you"
And this won't hurt a bit
Outta my eyes was your rise to full glory
Spring up from the grope of life
Spring up, up, up, up, up, up, up up into death
Up, up, up, up, up inhale its breath
Oh yes, Death favors those that favor death
Here is the stone, and this is the inscription it bare
"Below Lies Black Paul, Under The Upper
But Above and Beyond The Surface-Flat-Fall There"
And, and, and, and all the angels come on down
And all you men and women crowd around
And all the old widows weeping into their skirts
And all the little gals and the little boys
And the scribes with their pens poised
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All of the hullaballoo, all of the noise
Clears his throat of black blood
Black Paul singing like a lonely boy
Well, I have cried one thousand tears
And I've cried a thousand tears, its true
And the next stormy night you know
That I'm still cryin' them for you
Well, I had a gal she was so sweet
Red dress, and long red hair hangin' down
And heaven just ain't heaven
Without that little girl hangin' around
Well, if I laugh, ya know I've been a bad-man
But Lord knows ah done some good things too
But I confess, my soul will never rest
Until you've, until you've built
Until you've built a box for my gal, too
My gal, too
My gal, too
I'm enquirin on behalf of his soul
I'd be beholdin to ya all
For a lil' information, just a little indication
Just who will dig the hole?
When ya done ransackin' his room
Grabbin' any damn thing that shines
Throw the scraps down on the street
Like all his books and his notes
All his books and his notes and
All the junk that he wrote
Whole fuckin' lot right up in smoke
Well ain't there nothin' sacred anymore
Won't someone will build a box for Black Paul?
They're shootin' off his guns
And they're shootin' off their mouths
Saying "Fuck with us and die"
"Fuck with us and die"
(Let's see that rat of fear go scuttle in their skulls)
"Cover that eye, cover that frozen eye"
Poor Paul
Blood-puppet, in a heap up against the stoning-wall
Black-puppet, go to sleep, mama won't scold ya anymore
Armies of ants, wade up the little red streams
Heading for the mother-pool
Oh lord, it's cruel
Oh man it's hot
Oh man it's hot
And some of those ants they just climb to the spot
Who threw the first stone at Black Paul?
"Don't ask us", say the critics and the hacks
The pen-pushers and the quacks
"We just come to get the facts"
"We just come to get the facts"
Uh huh, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Here is the hammer, that built the scaffold
And built the box
Here is the shovel, that dug the hole
In this ground of rocks
And here is the pile of stones
And for each one planted, God only knows
A blood-rose grown
Oh listen
These are the true Demon-Flowers
These are the true Demon-Flowers
Stand back everyone
Blood-black everyone
(Blood-black)
(Stand back)
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
And who'll carry it up the hill?
"Not I", said the widow, adjusting her veil
"I will not drive the nail
Or cart his puppet-body home
For I done that one hundred times before
Uh, it's one hundred times or more
And why should ah dress his wounds?
When he has wounded my dress, nightly
Right across the floor"
Who'll build a box for Black Paul?
Who'll carry it up the hill?
Now who'll bury him in the black-soil?
From the woods and the thickets
Come the ghosts of his victims
"We love you"
"I love you"
And this won't hurt a bit
Outta my eyes was your rise to full glory
Spring up from the grope of life
Spring up, up, up, up, up, up, up up into death
Up, up, up, up, up inhale its breath
Oh yes, Death favors those that favor death
Here is the stone, and this is the inscription it bare
"Below Lies Black Paul, Under The Upper
But Above and Beyond The Surface-Flat-Fall There"
And, and, and, and all the angels come on down
And all you men and women crowd around
And all the old widows weeping into their skirts
And all the little gals and the little boys
And the scribes with their pens poised
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All the hullaballoo, all the noise
All of the hullaballoo, all of the noise
Clears his throat of black blood
Black Paul singing like a lonely boy
Well, I have cried one thousand tears
And I've cried a thousand tears, its true
And the next stormy night you know
That I'm still cryin' them for you
Well, I had a gal she was so sweet
Red dress, and long red hair hangin' down
And heaven just ain't heaven
Without that little girl hangin' around
Well, if I laugh, ya know I've been a bad-man
But Lord knows ah done some good things too
But I confess, my soul will never rest
Until you've, until you've built
Until you've built a box for my gal, too
My gal, too
My gal, too
Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser, edited by Mellow_Harsher, Odia
A Box for Black Paul Lyrics as written by Nicholas Cave
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
I am really interested about the meaning behind this song, since I'm not a native english speaker.
I think it's basically about a guy who died (Paul) and all the funeral ceremony around him. but it seems that he was not such a respected person because nobody wants to build the box, carry it up the hill nor throw the first stone. in the end we find out that he wants his girl dead too.
I am confused by the part "Not I", said the widow, adjusting HIS veil... shouldn't it be HER veil ?
Now I'm not sure if it's correct or not but it seems to be quite correct. However, I read and heard that this song is about Nick Cave's old band The Birthday Party. Black Paul is The Birthday Party. Their initials correspond too. Maybe makes some more sense :)
// Arne
yes Arne is right, it's about the Birthday Party. It was on the first Bad Seeds albumn after the BP broke up. Lots of vitriol for the music press - critics and the hacks - who he blambed for not understanding the BP and whipping up a frenzy around the band as he struggled to accept new found fame.
and yes I think he sings "her Veil" rather than his
Completely destroys some of his former bandmates, the media, and some fans, regarding the death of his previous band, The Birthday Party (Black Paul)