Christina The Astonishing

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(l,m) Nick Cave
(p) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
< Nick Cave: vocals, organ; Mick Harvey: rhythm guitar, vibes,
percussion; Blixa Bargeld: guitar; Conway Savage: piano;
Martyn Casey: bass; Thomas Wydler: drums, congas;
The Bad Seeds: backing vocals;
Mick Harvey & David Blumberg: string arrangements;
Dennis Karmazyn: cello; Bruce Dukov, Barbara Porter: violins >
( Henry's Dream [Mute, 1992] )
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Christina the Astonishing
Lived a long time ago
SHe was stricken with a seizure
At the age of twenty-two
They took her body in a coffin
To a tiny church in Liege
Where she sprang up from the coffin
Just after the Agnus Dei
She soared up to the rafters
Perched on a beam up there
Cried "The stink of human sin
Is more that I can bear"
Christina the Astonishing
Was the most astonishing of all
She prayed balanced on a hurdle
Or curled up into a ball
She fled to remote places
Climbed towers and trees and walls
To escape the stench of human corruption
Into an oven she did crawl
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in a terrifying way
She would run wildly through the streets
Jump in the Meusse and swim away
O Christina the Astonishing
Behaved in terrifying manner
Died at the age of seventy-four
In the convent of St Anna
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