Lyric discussion by mackka 

Cover art for The Sorrowful Wife lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"I made her a promise I could not deliver" Well there's the key to the song right there. He said he would or wouldn't so something but he didn't or did and she's suffering for it. He feels for her pain but at the same time he wants her to help him avoid temptation. These line: "A loose wind last night blew down Black trees bent to the ground Their blossoms made such a sound That I could not hear myself think babe" Are simply amazing. Especially the way he delivers them.