[ti:The Mercy Seat] [ar:Johnny Cash] [00:00.00]Johnny Cash - The Mercy Seat [00:03.33]It all began when they took me from my home [00:05.40]And put me on Death Row, [00:07.05]a crime for which I am totally innocent, you know. [00:10.34]I began to warm and chill [00:14.91]To objects and their fields, [00:17.99]A ragged cup, a twisted mop [00:20.34]The face of Jesus in my soup [00:22.97]Those sinister dinner deals [00:24.27]The meal trolley's wicked wheels [00:27.21]A hooked bone rising from my food [00:30.59]All things either good or ungood. [00:33.23]And the mercy seat is waiting [00:35.55]And I think my head is burning [00:38.40]And in a way I'm yearning [00:40.46]To be done with all this weighing of the truth. [00:44.16]An eye for an eye [00:45.90]And a tooth for a tooth [00:47.28]And anyway I told the truth [00:50.53]And I'm not afraid to die. [00:53.36]I hear stories from the chamber [01:01.73]Christ was born into a manger [01:04.56]And like some ragged stranger [01:06.81]He died upon the cross [01:08.84]Might I say, it seems so fitting in its way [01:12.99]He was a carpenter by trade [01:16.11]Or at least that's what I'm told [01:18.63]My kill-hand's [01:25.05]tatooed E.V.I.L. across it's brother's fist [01:28.33]That filthy five! They did nothing to challenge or resit [01:33.47]In Heaven His throne is made of gold [01:37.72]The ark of his Testament is stowed [01:40.58]A throne from which I'm told All history does unfold. [01:45.05]It's made of wood and wire [01:46.98]And my body is on fire [01:50.06]And God is never far away. [01:53.46]Into the mercy seat I climb [01:56.54]My head is shaved, my head is wired [01:59.24]And like a moth that tries [02:01.71]To enter the bright eye [02:03.46]I go shuffling out of life [02:06.38]Just to hide in death awhile [02:09.14]And anyway I never lied. [02:13.39]And the mercy seat is waiting [02:15.70]And I think my head is burning [02:18.42]And in a way I'm yearning [02:20.45