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      Refrain:   I was a catholic boy,   Redeemed through pain,   Not through joy      I was two months early they put me under glass   I screamed and cursed their 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      Repeat refrain      They starved me for weeks, they thought they'd teach me fear   I fed on cellmates' 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      Repeat refrain      I watched the sweetest psalm stolen by the 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      Repeat refrain      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   'cause I'm a catholic child   The blood ran red   The blood ran wild!      Now I'm a catholic man   I put my tongue to the rail whenever I can.