Fable of the Brown Ape (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)

Farmer Emmerich went into his barn And found a cow suckling a serpent And a brown ape clanking a heavy chain Said Farmer Emmerich to the ape Never ask me to come into this barn again So Long Farewell So Long Farmer Emmerich caught the serpent And the brown ape in a cage And took them into his house He fed the snake a vat of milk And when the ape rattled its chain He tossed the ape a mouse So Long Goodbye Farewell The villagers found out that Farmer Emmerich Was nurturing a serpent And descended upon his farm All rabid in their blindness They dragged the snake outside Chopped it open with an axe And the ground soaked In the milk of human kindness So Long Farewell So Long But the brown ape escaped And was heard to roam the ranges Clanking its heavy chain Down in the valley it sang to its friend Whom he may never see again