Ain't No Rest For the Wicked

Album: Cage the Elephant (2008)
Charted: 32 83
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  • I was walkin' down the street when out the corner of my eye
    I saw a pretty little thing approachin' me
    She said, "I never seen a man who looked so all alone
    Oh, could you use a little company?
    If you pay the right price, your evening will be nice
    And you can go and send me on my way"
    I said, "You're such a sweet young thing, oh, why you do this to yourself?"
    She looked at me and this is what she said

    "Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked
    Money don't grow on trees
    I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
    There ain't nothin' in this world for free
    Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
    Though you know I wish I could
    Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
    Until we close our eyes for good"

    Not even fifteen minutes later, I'm still walkin' down the street
    When I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sight
    And then he swept up from behind, he put a gun up to my head
    He made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight
    He said, "Give me all you've got, I want your money, not your life
    But if you try to make a move, I won't think twice"
    I told him, "You can have my cash, but first, you know I gotta ask
    What made you wanna live this kind of life?"

    He said, "There ain't no rest for the wicked
    Money don't grow on trees
    I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
    There ain't nothin' in this world for free
    Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
    Though you know I wish I could
    Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
    Until we close our eyes for good"
    Yeah

    Well, now a couple hours passed and I was sitting in my house
    The day was winding down and coming to an end
    And so I turned on the TV and flipped it over to the news
    And what I saw, I almost couldn't comprehend
    I saw a preacher man in cuffs, he'd taken money from the church
    He'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills
    But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
    Oh yes, we all seek out to satisfy those thrills

    You know there ain't no rest for the wicked
    Money don't grow on trees
    We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed
    There ain't nothin' in this world for free
    Oh no, we can't slow down, we can't hold back
    Though you know we wish we could
    Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked
    Until we close our eyes for good Writer/s: Daniel Andrew Tichenor, Donald Bradley Shultz, Jared Lloyd Champion, Lincoln Parish, Matthew Ray Shultz
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 14

  • Anonymous from Oregonlove them!
  • Anonymous from TennesseeShows up in the intro for the Borderlands video game. Fits the style and mood of the game perfectly.
  • Siahara Shyne Carter from United StatesCool Voice! This is one of my New Favorite ;v This song is perfect "Theme Song" for my life now because it's really hard to find Job lol
    I love This.
  • Anonymous from BgThey are good, a relative of mine met the lead singer today, and she went to high school with him too!
  • Elmer H from Westville, OkThis is definitely a cool song. I love Cage The Elephant anyway so I love everything they have out & their facebook page. Love the lyrics on this song. In the past half-year, I've heard a lot more of The Elephant here in eastern Oklahoma. More fans! And I never get tired or stressed over hearing too much Elephant. Just open up that shriveled-up skull and enjoy!
  • Megan from Stevenson, AlI love this song! This band is slowly making their way to the top! I sing this all the time at school....
  • Doug from Dakota City, IaAccording to a July 2010 Spin Magazine interview "We were in Knoxville, Tennessee, hanging outside a club after a show - this is probably in 2006," remembers singer Matthew Shultz, "and we saw this guy with a shaved head and a long goatee yelling and screaming and talking to himself. I'm pretty sure he had some mental issues going on. He all of a sudden beelined towards us. Everyone jumped into our car and shut the doors. But I didn't make it into the car. I was stuck outside. I thought for sure the guy was gonna stab me or something, but then he came up to me and gave me a hug. The whole time he was saying, 'You have to cage the elephant, you have to cage the elephant.' Afterwards, I was like, 'We gotta name the band that.'"
  • Kira from San Francisco, CaActually, Matt Schultz (lead singer) said in an interview with Last.fm in 2010 that they got the name "Cage The Elephant" when they were living in the band house. Matt was eating an off-brand cereal, and on the back, and elephant had escaped, so you had to connect the dots to Cage the Elephant.
  • Joe from Lincoln, NeThis song appeared on the opening cinematic for the game Borderlands.
  • K from Nowhere, OnActually, the preacher doesn't give the excuse. The narrator/singer already knows it. He just thinks to himself when he watches he story on the news.
  • Alajandro!!!! from Burlington, VtThis song was so overplayed. Great song nonetheless, but I hate it when good songs like this are played way too much.
  • Dylan from Dodge City, Ksthat's cuz it's got pieces of Loser in there. Genius
  • Jim from Philadelphia, PaAn interesting song, the reason for confusion is because of the popular acoustic version. The story deals with three completely different people (a prostitute, a robber, and a preacher) who all give the same answer for their wrong-doings and faults.
  • Ryan from New Lexington, OhReminds me a lot of Beck's "Loser".
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