Red Right Hand (Single Version) [1998 Remastered Version] Lyrics
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Lyrics
Take a little walk to the edge of town
Where the viaduct looms
Like a bird of doom
As it shifts and cracks
Where secrets lie in the border fires
In the humming wires
Hey man, you know
You're never coming back
Past the square, past the bridge
Past the mills, past the stacks
On a gathering storm comes
A tall handsome man
In a dusty black coat with
A red right hand
He'll wrap you in his arms
Tell you that you've been a good boy
He'll rekindle all the dreams
It took you a lifetime to destroy
He'll reach deep into the hole
Heal your shrinking soul
But there won't be a single thing
That you can do
He's a god, he's a man
He's a ghost, he's a guru
They're whispering his name
Through this disappearing land
But hidden in his coat
Is a red right hand
You don't have no money?
He'll get you some
You don't have no car?
He'll get you one
You don't have no self-respect
You feel like an insect
Well don't you worry buddy
'cause here he comes
Through the ghettos and the barrio
And the bowery and the slum
A shadow is cast wherever he stands
Stacks of green paper in his
Red right hand
You'll see him in your nightmares
You'll see him in your dreams
He'll appear out of nowhere but
He ain't what he seems
You'll see him in your head
On the TV screen
And hey buddy, I'm warning
You to turn it off
He's a ghost, he's a god
He's a man, he's a guru
You're one microscopic cog
In his catastrophic plan
Designed and directed by
His red right hand
Song & Lyrics Facts
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' "Red Right Hand" is a single from their 1994 album Let Love In. It was released on April 11, 1994 and remastered in 1998.
Written by Nick Cave and the band's guitarist Mick Harvey, it features lead vocals by Cave with backing vocals by Blixa Bargeld, Thomas Wydler and Martyn P. Casey. Lyrically, the song paints an ominous picture of a mysterious figure referred to as "he", who is described as being ever-present, but never seen. The lyrics also contain references to Old Testament stories such as Cain and Abel and Noah's Ark. The song has been featured in several films including Scream, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and The Boat That Rocked. It has become one of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' most popular songs, often used in soundtracks and covered by numerous artists.