the ballad of robert moore and betty coltrane

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

There was a thick set man with frog eyes
who was standing by the door
and a little bald man with wing-nut ears
was waiting in the car
Well Robert Moore passed the frog-eyed man
as he walked into the bar,
and Betty Coltrane she jumped under her table.


"What's your pleasure?" asked the barman
he had a face like boiled meat
"There's a girl called Betty Coltrane
that I have come to see"
"But I ain't seen that girl 'round here
for more than a week"
and Betty Coltrane she hid beneath the table.

Well, then in came a sailior with
mermaids tattooed on his arms,
Followed by the man with the wing-nut ears
who was waitin' in the car
Well, Robert Moore sensed trouble,
he'd seen it comin' from afar
and Betty Coltrain she gasped beneath the table.


Well, the sailor said "I'm looking for my wife,
they call her Betty Coltrain!"
The frog-eyed man said "That can't be;
that's my wife's maiden name."
And the man with the wing-nut ears said,
"Hey, I married her back in Spain!"
and Betty Coltrain crossed herself beneath the table.


Well, Robert Moore stepped up and said
"That woman is my wife."
and he drew a silver pistol
and a wicked bowie knife;
And he shot the man with the wing-nut ears
straight between the eyes
and Betty Coltrain, she moaned under the table.


The frog-eyed man jumped at Robert Moore,
who stabbed him in the chest
and as Mister Frog-eyes died he said
"Betty, your the girl that I loved best!"
The sailor pulled a razor,
Robert blasted it to bits
"And Betty, I know you're under the table."


"Well have no fear," said Robert Moore,
"I do not want to hurt you!"
"Never a woman did'na love me
half as much as you.
You are the blessed' sun, girl
and you are the sacred moon."
and Betty shot his legs out from under the table!


Well, Robert Moore went down heavy
with a crash upon the floor
and over to his trashin' body
Betty Coltrain she did crawl.
She put the gun to the back of head
and pulled the trigger once more
and blew his brains out all over the table!


Well Betty stood up and shook her head
and waved the smoke away.
Said, "I'm sorry Mr Barman
to leave your place this way."
As she emptied out their wallets she said,
"I'll collect my severence pay."
and then she winked and threw a dollar on the table.