Palaces of Montezuma Lyrics
Of Mata Hari at the station
I give to you
A Java princess of Hindu Birth
A woman of flesh a child of earth
I give to you
The hanging gardens of Babylon
Miles Davis the black unicorn
I give to you
The Palaces of Montezuma
And the Gardens of Akbar's tomb
I give to you
The spider Goddess and the Needle Boy
The slave-dwarves they employ
I give to you
A custard-coloured super-dream
Of Ali McGraw and Steve McQueen
I give to you
And give me, give me, give me your precious love for me to hold
A pretty little black A-line dress
I give to you
The spinal cord of JFK
Wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's negligee
I give to you
I want nothing in return
Just the softest little breathless word
I ask of you
A word contained in a grain of sand
That can barely walk can't even stand
I ask of you
And gimme gimme gimme your precious love for me to hold
C'mon baby come out of the cold
And gimme gimme gimme your precious love for me to hold
So this is what a love song in the world of the Grinderman sounds like. The spinal cord of JFK is every girls dream, right!? I find the protagonist in this song a terrifying, nightmarish stalker of a character. This song follows on naturally from No Pussy Blues for me.
This song is sensational, but it does seem more Bad Seeds-y than Grinderman-y to me. If this is a sign of what we can look forward to on the next Bad Seeds album, then it looks like it is going to be up there with the best of them. I can't wait.
I don't think the intention is to be nightmarish. The protagonist is hardly going to actually get the spinal cord of JFK and wrap it in Marilyn Monroe's negligee... the whole point of the song is to capture the epic enormity of the love (or lust?) that the protagonist holds for the object of his affection. He would go to ridiculously extreme lengths to show his affection, but wants nothing in return but "the softest little breathless word... A word contained in a grain of sand, That can barely walk can't even stand".
I don't think the intention is to be nightmarish. The protagonist is hardly going to actually get the spinal cord of JFK and wrap it in Marilyn Monroe's negligee... the whole point of the song is to capture the epic enormity of the love (or lust?) that the protagonist holds for the object of his affection. He would go to ridiculously extreme lengths to show his affection, but wants nothing in return but "the softest little breathless word... A word contained in a grain of sand, That can barely walk can't even stand".
This is an amazing love...
This is an amazing love song, steeped in some of the most memorable and poetic lyrics I have heard in a long time.
@russycarps I agree with the first repy, it's not to be taken literally...it would be difficult to give someone Hanging Gardens of Babalon or Miles Davis....it's a way of saying, "I'll give you the world"...Is this the greatest lovew
@russycarps I agree with the first repy, it's not to be taken literally...it would be difficult to give someone Hanging Gardens of Babalon or Miles Davis....it's a way of saying, "I'll give you the world"...Is this the greatest lovew
Is this the greatest love song ever?
Is this the greatest love song ever?