V1
I never lived, I never loved
And I never really cared much anyway
But when you kissed me, that Sunday morning
You took my heart and tore my soul away
You gave me light, you gave me fire
You made my world a better kind of place
I didn't think, I didn't know
That two years on you'd kick me in the face

Pre-Chorus
Beware of Magdelene
She'll only bring you pain

Chorus
She captured my heart and she poisoned my brain
My, my, my, my Magdelene
She loved me and left me and drove me insane
My, my, my, my Magdelene

V2
I gave you all I had to give you
I thought you felt the same but never guessed
Introduced you to my friends, you slept with some of them
Then left me for the one you liked the best
You gave me joy, you gave me poison
I should have known you're too good to be true
But you were all I ever wanted
And now I don't know what the hell to do

Bridge
Never thought she'd make me sad, the greatest days I ever had
Other girls can break your heart but Magdelene, she broke my brain

Solo

V3
I never lived, I never loved
And now I'll never be the same again
I'm bitter and twisted, I'm broken and scarred
And I wish I'd never met my Magdelene

Pre Chorus
Chorus

My, my, my, my Magdelene
My, my, my, my Magdelene
My, my, my, my Magdelene
Other girls can break your heart but Magdelene, she broke my brain

© Rubber Monster Music 2008

RATBAG: "'Magdelene' was the first song I ever wrote, back in 2003. Being a drummer I never really bothered much with songwriting early on, it's hard to compose tunes when you don't play a tuned instrument. The song was originally meant for the Poison Hearts, but we never got around to using it. It was, however, the first song we started to work on as the Kingcrows, and it's the only song that has featured in every single Kingcrows set list. Lyrically, it's your everyday tale of "boy meets girl, boy and girl shack up, girl buggers off with boy's mate", and it's a 100% true story. The first two lines came to me as I was waiting at traffic lights one Monday morning, and nagged at me like an itch until I wrote the rest of the song.
The intro is inspired by Motorhead's song "Rock And Roll" (and also "Action Man" by the Last Of The Teenage Idols!), but the rest of it is all my own work. It's a damn good "shut up and pay attention" song, ideal for getting people's interest early in the set."

The "Magdelene" illustration, by fetish art maestro Spoo, has become one of the Kingcrows' most recognisable icons...