The Mercy Seat - guitar chords and comments
Lyrics without distraction HERE
This eerie tale of a doomed man's walk to the last chair to be seated in, was amplified by an electric combination of chords in a wall of sound and recorded by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for the 1988 album "Tender Prey". More restrained and acoustic versions have been released as bonus tracks here and there, and the song is still regularely performed on stage ... 'cause the bad seeds are still growing. The original uses some kind of open tuning. The chords here are more or less after the Johnny Cash cover on American Recordings III "Solitary Man" (2000), where producer Rick Rubin impresses with an awesome arrangement.Am Em Am Em ... [recite lyrics to the repeated chords, 4/4 rythm] it all began when they come took me from my home and put me on Death Row a crime for which I am totally innocent you know ... I began to warm and chill to objects and their fields a ragged cup • a twisted mop • the face of Jesus in my soup those sinister dinner deals • the meal trolley's wicked wheels a hooked bone rising from my food all things either good or ungood Am and the mercy seat is waiting Eaug and I think my head is burning C and in a way I'm yearning G Gm to be done with all this weighing of the truth Gm7 Bb an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth C and anyway I told the truth Am and I'm not afraid to die
Am
Eaug
Eaug
C
C
G
Gm
Gm7
Bb
