Catholic Boy (From"Basketball Diaries" Soundtrack) - Jim Carroll
Lyrics by:Jim Carroll
Composed by:Jim Carroll
Produced by:Brett Eliason
I was born in a pool
They made my mother stand
And I spat on that surgeon
And his trembling hand
When I felt the light
I was worse than bored
I stole the doctor's scalpel
And I slit the cord
I was a Catholic boy
I was a deep deep pain
Not through joy
I was two months early
They put me under glass
I screamed and cursed at children
When the nurses passed
Was convicted of theft
When I slipped from the womb
They led me straight from my mother
To a cell in the Tombs
I was a Catholic boy
Redeemed pain
Not through joy
They starved me for weeks
They thought they'd teach me fear
I fed on cell mates' dreams
It gave me fine ideas
When they cut me loose
The time had served me well
I made allies in heaven
Comrades in hell
I was a Catholic child
The blood ran red
The blood ran wild
I make angels dance and drop to their knees
When I enter a church
The feet of statues bleed
I understand the fate of all my enemies
Just like Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
I man a Catholic boy
I was redeemed through pain
Not through joy
I watched the sweetest psalm stolen by our choir
I dreamed of martyrs' bones hanging from a wire
I make a contribution
I get absolution
I make a resolution to purify my soul
But I'm a Catholic boy
Redeemed through pain
Not through joy
They can't touch me now
I got every sacrament behind me
I got baptism
I got communion
I got penance
I got extreme unction
I've got confirmation
I was a Catholic boy
Redeemed through pain
Not through joy
And now
I'm a Catholic man
I put my tongue to the rail whenever I can