Lyric discussion by shockm 

Cover art for Stagger Lee lyrics by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

There are various recordings and various spellings (stackolee, stagolee, stagger lee, stack a lee) of this song going back decades. With it's explicit lyrics, Nick Cave's version most closely resembles 'The Great Stack-a-Lee' by Snatch and The Poontangs (a band led by Johnny Otis), in 1969. The line "I'll crawl over fifty good pussies just to get one fat boy's asshole" is actually from another Snatch and The Poontangs song called 'Two-time Slim'.

The Great Stack-a-Lee: http://cowbell.fm/track/158068-snatch-and-the-poontangs-the-great-stack-a-lee

Two-Time Slim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhpRAe0YGeY&feature=related