God Is In the House
27 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in 00's Music, lyrics Tags: Nick Cave
If anything were to be my karaoke jam, this would be it. For one, it doesn’t require great singing, because it hold together entirely on the lyrics, which are beyond brilliant. Nick Cave has always been a master of cutting through to the darkest depths of the human condition whilst also being wildly hilarious. Nowhere is this rare talent more brightly illuminated than here. Cave paints a picture of the stultifying, soul crushing fear and conformity that sometimes lurks behind the shiniest white picket fences. In a verdant, peaceful, god-fearing community folks are paralyzed with dread. Cave satirizes piousness and political correctness and the ongoing battles waged politically and personally over everything from sexuality to choice of kitten color. His voice ranges from sincere anguish to coldest sarcasm, dropping to a scary whisper or relishing lines about “goose-stepping, twelve-stepping teetotalitarianists”. The message may be, if there is one, that peace and prosperity bought at the price of self-expression is no peace at all but a hell made of good intentions.
We’ve laid the cables and the wires
We’ve split the wood and stoked
the fires
We’ve lit our town so there is no
Place for crime to hide
Our little church is painted white
And in the safety of the night
We all go quiet as a mouse
For the word is out
God is in the house
God is in the house
God is in the house
No cause for worry now
God is in the houseMoral sneaks in the White House
Computer geeks in the school house
Drug freaks in the crack house
We don’t have that stuff here
We have a tiny little Force
But we need them of course
For the kittens in the trees
And at night we are on our knees
As quiet as a mouse
For God is in the house
God is in the house
God is in the house
And no one’s left in doubt
God is in the houseHomos roaming the streets in packs
Queer bashers with tyre-jacks
Lesbian counter-attacks
That stuff is for the big cities
Our town is very pretty
We have a pretty little square
We have a woman for a mayor
Our policy is firm but fair
Now that God is in the house
God is in the house
God is in the house
Any day now He’ll come out
God is in the houseWell-meaning little therapists
Goose-stepping twelve-stepping Tetotalitarianists
The tipsy, the reeling and the drop down pissed
We got no time for that stuff here
Zero crime and no fear
We’ve bred all our kittens white
So you can see them in the night
And at night we’re on our knees
As quiet as a mouse
Since the word got out
From the North down to the South
For no-one’s left in doubt
There’s no fear about
If we all hold hands and very quietly shout
Hallelujah
God is in the house
God is in the house
Oh I wish He would come out
God is in the house
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