Nick Cave - The Ballad Of Robert Moore And Betty Coltrane lyrics

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There was a thick set man with frog eyes

Who was standing at the door

And a little bald man with wing-nut ears

Was waiting in the car

Well, Robert Moore passed the frog-eyed man

As he walked into the bar

And Betty Coltrane she jumped under her table

"What's your pleasure?" asked the barman

He had a face like boiled meat

"There's a girl called Betty Coltrane

That I have come to see"

"But I ain't seen that girl 'round here

For more than a week"

And Betty Coltrane he had hid beneath the table

Well, then in came a sailor with

Mermaids tattooed on his arms

Followed by the man with the wing-nut ears

Who was waitin' in the car

Well, Robert Moore sensed trouble

He'd seen it comin' from afar

And Betty Coltrain she gasped beneath the table

Well, the sailor said, "I'm looking for my wife

They call her Betty Coltrain"

The frog-eyed man said, "That can't be

That's my wife's maiden name"

And the man with the wing-nut ears said

"Hey, I married her back in Spain"

And Betty Coltrain crossed herself beneath the table

Well, Robert Moore stepped up and said

"That woman is my wife"

And he drew a silver pistol

And a wicked bowie knife

And he shot the man with the wing-nut ears

Straight between the eyes

And Betty Coltrain, she moaned under the table

Well, the frog-eyed man jumped at Robert Moore

Who stabbed him in the chest

And as Mister Frog-eyes died he said

"Betty, you're the girl that I loved best"

Then the sailor pulled a razor

Robert blasted it to bits

"And Betty, I know you're under the table"

"Well, have no fear," said Robert Moore

"I do not want to hurt you"

"Never a woman did I love me

Half as much as you

"You're the blessed sun, the meek girl

And you are the sacred moon"

And Betty shot his legs out from under the table

Well, Robert Moore went down heavy

With a crash upon the floor

And over to his trashin' body

Betty Coltrain she did crawl

She put the gun to the back of his head

And pulled the trigger once more

And blew his brains out all over the table

Well, Betty stood up and shook her head

And waved the smoke away

Said, "I'm sorry Mr. Barman

To leave your place this way"

As she emptied out their wallets she said

"I'll collect my severance pay"

Then she winked and threw a dollar on the table