Where the wild roses grow - Nick CAVE / Kylie MINOGUE

This song tells the story of Elisa Day and her lover...
how romantic   :-}
Yet, if you listen to its lyrics more attentively,
you'll also be told about murder !

 

The rock song was written by the Australian singer-songwriter Nick Cave
(vocals by the Australian pop-singer Kylie Minogue).
Nick Cave wrote the song after he heard the traditional song "The Willow Garden",
which basically tells the story of a man courting a woman (Rose Connelly)
and eventually killing her.

"Where the wild roses grow" was released in 1995
and became the band's most triumphant single
throughout the world.

Why not listen to it again while reading its lyrics ?

CHORUS
They call me 'The Wild Rose'
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day

From the first day I saw her I knew she was the one
As she stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
They grew down the river, all bloody and wild

When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped the tears that ran down my face

CHORUS

On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I'd seen
I said, 'Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?'

On the second day he came with a single rose
Said: 'Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?'
I nodded my head, as I layed on the bed
He said, 'If I show you the roses will you follow?'

CHORUS

On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist

On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth

CHORUS