Track on Tuesday - O Children

Album: Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus

Artist: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

Genre: Indie, Rock and Roll

Label: Anti

Released: 25 October 2010

My Review:  I’ve had this song for years, and I listen to it a LOT.  There’s really no way to truly figure out what Nick Cave is trying to say in this song.  There are so many different things being illustrated in the lyrics, although the beat is pretty simple.  In that simplicity the lyrics are even harder to define.  It would be easy to say this song is a commentary on the day and time we live in, but when has any interpretation ever been that easy?

Pass me that lovely little gun

My dear, my darling one

The cleaners are coming, one by one

You don't even want to let them start

They are knocking now upon your door

They measure the room, they know the score

They're mopping up the butcher's floor

Of your broken little hearts

O children

Forgive us now for what we've done

It started out as a bit of fun

Here, take these before we run away

The keys to the gulag

O children

Lift up your voice, lift up your voice

Children

Rejoice, rejoice

Here comes Frank and poor old Jim

They're gathering round with all my friends

We're older now, the light is dim

And you are only just beginning

O children

We have the answer to all your fears

It's short, it's simple, it's crystal clear

It's round about and it's somewhere here

Lost amongst our winnings

O children

Lift up your voice, lift up your voice

Children

Rejoice, rejoice

The cleaners have done their job on you

They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove

They've hosed you down, you're good as new

They're lining up to inspect you

O children

Poor old Jim's white as a ghost

He's found the answer that we lost

We're all weeping now, weeping because

There ain't nothing we can do to protect you

O children

Lift up your voice, lift up your voice

Children

Rejoice, rejoice

Hey little train! We are all jumping on

The train that goes to the Kingdom

We're happy, Ma, we're having fun

And the train ain't even left the station

Hey, little train! Wait for me!

I once was blind but now I see

Have you left a seat for me?

Is that such a stretch of the imagination?

Hey little train! Wait for me!

I was held in chains but now I'm free

I'm hanging in there, don't you see

In this process of elimination

Hey little train! We are all jumping on

The train that goes to the Kingdom

We're happy, Ma, we're having fun

It's beyond my wildest expectation

Hey little train! We are all jumping on

The train that goes to the Kingdom

We're happy, Ma, we're having fun

And the train ain't even left the station