Catholic Boy

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 redeemed through pain
 Not through joy
 I was two months early, they put me under glass
 I screamed and cursed at children when their nurses passed
 I was convicted of theft as I slipped from the womb
 They led me straight from my mother to a cell in the tombs
 I was a Catholic boy
 I was redeemed through 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, I made 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 was a Catholic boy
 I was redeemed through pain
 An 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
 I'm a Catholic boy
 Redeemed through pain
 Not through joy
 And they can't touch me now
 I got every sacrament behind me
 I got baptism, I got penance
 I got communion, I got extreme unction
 Man, I've got confirmation
 I was a Catholic boy
 Redeemed through pain
 And not through joy
 And now I'm a Catholic man
 I put my tongue to the rail whenever I can