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Mercy Seat Lyrics
When I'm in the Mercy Seat
I smile
and lay my weapons down
all I ask is for release
no matter what the cost
there's only one way
to bring a new day
apply the heat that gently turns
my sickness into health
But you can taste the fire for yourself
yeah you can taste the fire for yourself
and when that blood begins to flow
there's nowhere else to go
I feel complete in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
So bind me to the Mercy Seat
and heal me
I promise not to flinch
and ring that bell as loud as you please
it can only make me well
there's only one way
to bring a new day
help me to recall I'm just a man
and that's all I am
But you can taste the fire for yourself
yeah you can taste the fire for yourself
and when that blood begins to flow
there's nowhere else to go
I feel complete in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
I smile
and lay my weapons down
all I ask is for release
no matter what the cost
there's only one way
to bring a new day
apply the heat that gently turns
my sickness into health
yeah you can taste the fire for yourself
and when that blood begins to flow
there's nowhere else to go
I feel complete in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
and heal me
I promise not to flinch
and ring that bell as loud as you please
it can only make me well
there's only one way
to bring a new day
help me to recall I'm just a man
and that's all I am
yeah you can taste the fire for yourself
and when that blood begins to flow
there's nowhere else to go
I feel complete in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
So complete, in the Mercy Seat
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Fuckin heroin. Duh. Now fuck off. Idiots
Yeah, everybody says heroin. But "Mercy Seat" can refer to the electric chair, and this makes more sense with these lyrics as a song about death row inmates called "volunteers", many of whom suffer severe mental illness and see execution as a relief to their suffering. Try that and then the heroin version and see what fits better.
The "Mercy Seat" was the name for the seat formed by the wings of the two golden cherubim on the top of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:20), and in the Old Testament the Ark is often associated with fire - Nadab and Abihu offer "strange fire" before it and are consumed by the fire of God as punishment, sometimes the Ark is carried before the armies of Israel and sends fire upon its enemies, &c..
While this song is obviously about heroine, the choice of title suggests that the singer's addiction is a parody of pious devotion, that instead of the Ark in the Presence of the Lord, he has a fairly normal chair with lots of heroin. Combined with the ambivalence of the lyrics, we hear a man who is half-awake, half-aware of the debilitating he has brought upon himself, unable to grasp it properly, utterly unable to escape it.
[Edit: Link didn't go anywhere so changed it to just the chapter and verse reference]