Have mercy on me, sir
Allow me to impose on you
I have no place to stay
And my bones are cold right through
I will tell you a story
Of a man and his family
And I swear that it is true
Ten years ago I met a girl named Joy
She was a sweet and happy thing
Her eyes were bright blue jewels
And we were married in the spring
I had no idea what happiness and little love could bring
Or what life had in store
But all things move toward their end
All things move toward their their end
On that you can be sure
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Then one morning I awoke to find her weeping
And for many days to follow
She grew so sad and lonely
Became Joy in name only
Within her breast there launched an unnamed sorrow
And a dark and grim force set sail
Farewell happy fields
Where joy forever dwells
* Hail horrors hail *
Was it an act of contrition or some awful premonition
As if she saw into the heart of her final blood-soaked night
Those lunatic eyes, that hungry kitchen knife
Ah, I see sir, that I have your attention!
Well, could it be?
How often I’ve asked that question
Well, then in quick succession
We had babies, one, two, three
We called them Hilda, Hattie and Holly
They were their mother’s children
Their eyes were bright blue jewels
And they were quiet as a mouse
There was no laughter in the house
No, not from Hilda, Hattie or Holly
“No wonder”, people said, “poor mother Joy’s so melancholy”
Well, one night there came a visitor to our little home
I was visiting a sick friend
I was a doctor then
Joy and the girls were on their own
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Joy had been bound with electrical tape
In her mouth a gag
She’d been stabbed repeatedly
And stuffed into a sleeping bag
In their very cots my girls were robbed of their lives
Method of murder much the same as my wife’s
Method of murder much the same as my wife’s
It was midnight when I arrived home
Said to the police on the telephone
Someone’s taken four innocent lives
They never caught the man
He’s still on the loose
It seems he has done many many more
Quotes John Milton on the walls in the victim’s blood
The police are investigating at tremendous cost
In my house he wrote “his red right hand”
That, I’m told is from Paradise Lost
The wind round here gets wicked cold
But my story is nearly told
I fear the morning will bring quite a frost
And so I’ve left my home
I drift from land to land
I am upon your step and you are a family man
Outside the vultures wheel
The wolves howl, the serpents hiss
And to extend this small favour, friend
Would be the sum of earthly bliss
Do you reckon me a friend?
The sun to me is dark
And silent as the moon
Do you, sir, have a room?
Are you beckoning me in?
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Prevod na srpski
Pesma o radosti
Smilujte mi se, gospodine
dozvolite da Vam se nametnem
Nemam gde da prenoćim
A moje kosti skroz su smrznute
Ispričaću Vam priču
O jednom čoveku i njegovoj porodici
I kunem se da je istinita
Pre deset godina upoznao sam devojku pod imenom Džoj
Bila je baš slatka i srećna
Njene oči bile su svetlo plavi dragulji
I u proleće smo bili venčani
Nisam imao pojma šta sreća i malo ljubavi mogu doneti
Niti šta će život prirediti
Ali svemu dođe kraj
Sve ima svoj kraj
u to možete biti sigurni
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Onda sam se jednog jutra probudio i video je kako jeca
i mnogo narednih dana
postajala je tako tužna i usamljena
Postala je Džoj samo po imenu
U njenim grudima pokrenuta je neimenovana tuga
i neka mračna i grozna sila se pokrenula
Zbogom srećne poljane
gde radost zauvek ostaje
* Pozdrav užasi pozdrav *
Da li je to bilo zbog nekog kajanja ili neko grozno predosećanje
kao da je videla samu srž svoje poslednje krvlju natopljene noći
te oči ludaka, taj hladni kuhinjski nož
Ah, vidim gospodine, da sam privukao Vašu pažnju!
Well, da li je moguće?
Koliko sam često to pitanje postavljao
Pa, onda ubrzo posle
Imali smo decu, jedno, dvoje, troje
Dali smo im imena Hilda, Heti i Holi
One su bile deca svoje majke
Njihove oči su bile svetlo plavi dragulji
I bile su tihe kao miševi
U kući nije bilo smeha
Ni Hildinog ni Hetinog ni Holinog
“Nije ni čudo”, rekli su ljudi, “jadna majka Džoli tako je melanholična”
Tako jedne noći u naš mali dom stiže posetilac
Ja sam bio u poseti bolesnom drugu
Tada sam bio doktor
Džoj i devojčice bile su same
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la
Džoj je bila vezana električnom trakom
zapušili joj usta
izboli je više puta
i ugurali u vreću za spavanje
U svojim krevetima moje devojčice svojih života su lišene
Način ubistva uglavnom isti kao i moje supruge
Način ubistva uglavnom isti kao i moje supruge
Bila je ponoć kad sam stigao kući
Rekao sam policiji preko telefona
Neko je uzeo četiri nevina života
Nikad nisu uhvatili tog čoveka
Još uvek je na slobodi
Reklo bi se da je počinio još mnoga
Krvlju žrtvi citira Džon Miltona po zidovima
Policija istražuje uz ogromne troškove
U mojoj kući je napisao “njegova crvena desna ruka”
To, rekli su mi, je iz “Izgubljenog raja”
Vetar ovde zna da bude strašno hladan
Ali moja priča je pri kraju
Bojim se da bi jutro moglo doneti oštar mraz
I tako sam od kuće otišao
Skitam od zemlje do zemlje
Pred tvojim sam pragom a ti si porodičan čovek
Napolju se kotrljaju strvinari
Vukovi urliču, guje šište
I, kada bi učinio ovu malu uslugu, prijatelju
to bi bio vrhunac zemaljskog blaženstva
Smatraš li me prijateljem?
Meni je sunce mračno
i tiho kao mesec
Gospodine, imate li mesta?
Pozivate li me unutra?
La la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la la