Red right hand

When I first took in the lyrics of this rather scary tune I immediately thought of Randal Flagg, the bad guy from Stephen King's "The Stand". A fascinating, deeply disturbing character with exceptional manipulative abilities and a heckload of twisted charm mixed with some magical powers, arrogance, and the biggest pinch of evil I've seen in a long time. I've looked and looked for a proper description of him, or a quote or something that will fit these fantastic lyrics written by Nick Cave, but the internetz has failed me yet again, so I'll just have to add a quote later when I come home from my little easter holiday and can look through my copy of "The Stand" (marvellous book, by the way). I did find something, though, but it doesn't really describe his dark charisma - only his evil intentions.  

"He looks like anybody you see on the street. But when he grins, birds fall dead off telephone lines...the grass yellows up and dies where he spits. He's always outside. He came out of time...He has the name of a thousand demons. Jesus knocked him into a herd of pigs once. His name is Legion. He's afraid of us...He knows magic. He can call the wolves and live in the crows...He's the king of nowhere." 

Oh, damn, I found another one: 

Randal Flagg: Oh! I never even introduced myself, did I? Pleased to meet you, Lloyd. Hope you guessed my name.

Lloyd Henried: Huh?

Randal Flagg: Oh, uh... Nothing. Just a little classical reference.

~


take a little walk to the edge of town
go across the tracks
where the viaduct looms like a bird of doom
as it shifts and cracks
where the secrets lie in the border fires
in humming wires
hey man, you know you're never coming back
past the square, past the bridge
past the mills, past the stack
on a gathering storm comes a tall, handsome man

in a dusty, black coat with a red right hand

he'll wrap you in his arms, tell you that you've been

a good boy
he'll rekindle all the dreams it took you
a lifetime to destroy
he'll reach deep into the hole, heal your shrinking soul
but there won't be a single thing that you can do
he's a god, he's a man, he's a ghost, he's a guru
they're whispering his name through this disappearing land
but hidden in his coat is a red right hand

you ain't got no money?
he'll get you some
you ain't got no car?
he'll get you one
you ain't got no self respect, you feel like an insect?
well, don't you worry, buddy, 'cause here he comes
through the ghettos and the barrio and he bowery and the slum
a shadow is cast wherever he stands
stacks of green paper in his red right hand

you'll see him in your nightmares
you'll see him in your dreams
he'll appear out of nowhere, but
he ain't what he seems
you'll see him in your head, on the TV screen
and hey buddy, I'm warning you to turn it off
he's a ghost, he's a man, he's a god, he's a guru
you're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan
designed and directed by his red right hand