Where the Wild Roses Grow,
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
From the first day
I saw her I knew she was the one
She stared in my eyes and smiled
For her lips were the colour of the roses
They grew down the river, all bloody and wild
When he knocked on my door and entered the room
My trembling subsided in his sure embrace
He would be my first man, and with a careful hand
He wiped the tears that ran down my face
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the second day I brought her a flower
She was more beautiful than any woman I’d seen
I said, “Do you know where the wild roses grow
So sweet and scarlet and free?”
On the second day he came with a single red rose
He said: “Will you give me your loss and your sorrow?”
I nodded my head, as I layed on the bed
He said, “If I show you the roses will you follow?”
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
She lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
And I kissed her goodbye, I said, “All beauty must die”
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me that I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day
Mi chiamavano la rosa selvatica
ma il mio nome era Elisa Day
perche’ mi chiamassero cosi’,
non so poiche’ il mio nome era Elisa Day
guardo’ i miei occhi e sorrise
perche’ le sue labbra erano del colore delle rose
che crescono lungo il fiume, tutte sanguinose e selvatiche
Quando busso’ alla mia porta ed entro’ nella stanza
il mio brivido si quieto’ nel suo abbaccio sicuro,
sarebbe stato il mio primo uomo, e con mano gentile
asciugo’ le lacrime che mi rigavano il viso
Mi chiamavano la rosa selvatica
ma il mio nome era Elisa Day
perche’ mi chiamassero cosi’, non so
poiche’ il mio nome era Elisa Day
Il secondo giorno le portai un fiore
era piu’ bella di qualsiasi donna
Le dissi: “Sai dove crescono le rose selvatiche
cosi’ dolci e scarlatte e libere?”
Il secondo giorno venne con una sola rosa rossa
e disse: “Mi darai la tua rovina e il tuo dolore?”
annuii, mentre stavo distesa sul letto
ed egli disse: “Se ti mostro le rose mi seguirai?”
Mi chiamavano la rosa selvatica
ma il mio nome era Elisa Day p
erche’ mi chiamassero cosi’,
non so poiche’ il mio nome era Elisa Day
Il terzo giorno mi porto’ al fiume
mi mostro’ le rose e ci baciammo
e l’ultima cosa che sentii fu una parola sussurrata
mentre stava davanti a me con una pietra nel pugno
L’ultimo giorno la portai dove crescono le rose selvatiche
lei giacque sulla riva, il vento leggero come un ladro
E la baciai per l’addio, e dissi “Ogni bellezza deve morire”
e mi chinai e piantai una rosa tra i suoi denti
Mi chiamavano la rosa selvatica
ma il mio nome era Elisa Day
perche’ mi chiamassero cosi’,
non so poiche’ il mio nome era Elisa Day
Murder Ballads, [1995], di Nick Cave