Lyric discussion by GravityAlwaysWins 

Cover art for Song of Joy lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

i know that the narrator is the killer, but the other day a question was brought up that i'd never thought about:

was his insanity the cause of joy's depression, or was her depression the cause of his insanity? if the latter...what was wrong with her? and even with the children?

maybe they just needed killin'