Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Curse Of Millhaven

      THE CURSE OF MILLHAVEN
by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
from the album Murder Ballads
Original tab by Dan Croy
All verses added and tabbed by Muddie


---START----
Am

Am
I live in a town called Millhaven
                                      Dm
And it's small and it's mean and it's cold

But if you come around just as the sun goes down
                                      Am
You can watch the whole thing turn to gold
G
It's around then that I used to go a roaming
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                Am
All God's children they all gotta die


Am
My name is Loretta but I prefer Lottie
                               Dm
I'm closing in on my fifteenth year

If you think that you seen a pair of eyes more green
                                       Am
Then you sure haven't seen 'em around here
G
My hair is yellow and I'm always a-combing
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                    Am
Mama often told me that we all got to die


Am
You must have heard about The Curse Of Millhaven
                                       Dm
How last Christmas Bill Blake's little boy didn't come home

They found him next week in One Mile Creek
                           Am
His head bashed in and his pockets full of stones
G
Well, just imagine all the wailing and moaning
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                               Am
Even Bill Blake's boy, he had to die 


Am
Then Professor O'Rye from Millhaven High
                                           Dm
Found nailed to his door his prize-winning terrier

Then next day the old fool brought little Biko to school
                              Am
And we all had to watch as he buried her
G
Well his eulogy to Biko had all the tears a-flowing
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                        Am
Even God's little creatures, they have to die 


Am
Our little town fell into a state of shock
                                        Dm
A lot of people were saying things that made little sense

Then the next thing you know the head of Handyman Joe
                                 Am
Was found in the fountain of the Mayor's residence
G
Well foul play can really get a small town going
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                               Am
Even God's children they have to die 


Am
Then, in a cruel twist of fate, old Mrs Colgate
                                   Dm
Was stabbed but the job was not complete

Well the last thing she said before the cops pronounced her dead
                                   Am
Was, "My killer is Loretta and she lives across the street!"
G
Twenty cops burst through my door without even phoning
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                           Am
The young ones, the old ones, they all gotta die 

Am

Am
Yes, it is I, Lottie. The Curse Of Millhaven
                                        Dm
I've struck horror in the heart of this town

Like my eyes ain't green and my hair ain't yellow
                             Am
It's more like the other way around
G
I gotta pretty little mouth underneath all the foaming
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                           Am
Sooner or later we all gotta die 


Am
Since I was no bigger than a weevil they've been saying I was evil
                                  Dm 
That if "bad" was a boot that I'd fit it

That I'm a wicked young lady, but I've been trying hard lately
                            Am
O fuck it! I'm a monster! I admit it!
G
Well it makes me so mad that my blood starts a-going
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                    Am
Mama always told me that we all gotta die 


Am
Well yeah, I drowned the Bailey kid, stabbed Mrs. Colgate, I admit
                                       Dm
Did the handyman with his circular saw in his garden shed

But I never crucified little Biko, that was two junior high school psychos
                                      Am
Stinky Bohoon and his friend with the pumpkin-sized head
G
I'll sing to the lot, now you got me going
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                Am
All God's children have all gotta die 


Am
There were all the others, all our sisters and brothers
                                    Dm
You assumed were accidents, best forgotten

Recall the children who broke through the ice on Lake Tahoo?
                                                              Am
Everyone assumed the "Warning" signs had followed 'em to the bottom
G
Well, they're underneath the house where I do quite a bit of stowing
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                           Am
Even twenty little children, now they had to die 


Am
And the fire of '91 that razed the Bella Vista slum
                                              Dm
That was the biggest shit-fight this country's ever seen

Insurance companies ruined, land lords getting sued
                             Am
All cause of wee girl with a can of gasoline
G
Those flames really roared when the winds started blowing
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                                  Am
Well the rich man and the poor man, they all got to die 


Am
Well I confessed to all these crimes and they put me on trial
                                 Dm
I was laughing when they took me away

Off to the asylum in an old black Mariah
                                                   Am
Well it ain't home, but you know, it's better than jail
G
It ain't such bad old place to have a home in
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                Am
All God's children they all gotta die


Am
Now I got shrinks that will not rest with their endless Rorschach tests
                                                Dm
I keep telling them that I think they're out to get me

They ask me if I feel remorse and I answer, "Why of course!
                                                  Am
There is so much more I could have done if they'd let me!"
G
So it's Rorschach and Prozac and everything is groovy
C                     Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                  Am
All God's children they all have to die
C            Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                    Am
I'm happy as a lark and everything is fine
C                     Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                                           Am
Yeah, everything is groovy and everything is fine
C                     Am
La la la la, La la la lie
Dm                            Am
All God's children they gotta die