Johnny Cash The Mercy Seat Lyrics

The Mercy Seat Lyrics

It began when they come took me from my home

And put me in Dead Row,

Of which I am nearly wholly innocent, you know.

And I'll say it
again

I..am..not..afraid..to..die.



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 meals

The meal
trolley's wicked wheels

A hooked bone rising from my food

All things
either good or ungood.



And the mercy seat is waiting

And I
think my head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be done with
all this measuring of truth.

An eye for an eye

A tooth for a
tooth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to die.



Interpret signs and catalogue

A blackened tooth, a scarlet
fog.

The walls are bad. Black. Bottom kind.

They are sick breath at
my hind

They are sick breath at my hind

They are sick breath at my
hind

They are sick breath gathering at my hind



I hear
stories from the chamber

How Christ was born into a manger

And like
some ragged stranger

Died upon the cross

And might I say it seems so
fitting in its way

He was a carpenter by trade

Or at least that's
what I'm told



Like my good hand I

tattooed E.V.I.L. across
it's brother's fist

That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or
resist.



In Heaven His throne is made of gold

The ark of his
Testament is stowed

A throne from which I'm told

All history does
unfold.

Down here it's made of wood and wire

And my body is on
fire

And God is never far away.



Into the mercy seat I
climb

My head is shaved, my head is wired

And like a moth that
tries

To enter the bright eye

I go shuffling out of life

Just
to hide in death awhile

And anyway I never lied.



My kill-hand
is called E.V.I.L.

Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.

`Tis a
long-suffering shackle

Collaring all that rebel blood.



And
the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a
way I'm yearning

To be done with all this measuring of truth.

An
eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And anyway I told the
truth

And I'm not afraid to die.



And the mercy seat is
burning

And I think my head is glowing

And in a way I'm hoping

To be done with all this weighing up of truth.

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And I've got nothing left to lose

And I'm
not afraid to die.



And the mercy seat is glowing

And I think
my head is smoking

And in a way I'm hoping

To be done with all this
looks of disbelief.

An eye for an eye

And a tooth for a tooth

And anyway there was no proof

Nor a motive why.



And the
mercy seat is smoking

And I think my head is melting

And in a way
I'm helping

To be done with all this twisted of the truth.

A lie
for a lie

And a truth for a truth

And I've got nothing left to
lose

And I'm not afraid to die.



And the mercy seat is
melting

And I think my blood is boiling

And in a way I'm
spoiling

All the fun with all this truth and consequence.

An eye
for an eye

And a truth for a truth

And anyway I told the truth

And I'm not afraid to die.



And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be
done with all this measuring of proof.

A life for a life

And a
truth for a truth

And anyway there was no proof

But I'm not afraid
to tell a lie.



And the mercy seat is waiting

And I think my
head is burning

And in a way I'm yearning

To be done with all this
measuring of truth.

An eye for an eye

And a truth for a truth

And anyway I told the truth

But I'm afraid I told a lie.