Comments on: Nick Cave, the Black Crow King, is fifty today

Nick Cave, the Black Crow King, is fifty today

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:59:54 -0800

NickCaveFilter: Fifty years ago this very day, Nicholas Edward Cave [previously] crawled from the womb and started to plot. At 16 he formed his first band which evolved quickly into the Boys Next Door [Shivers]. This in turn mutated into the Birthday Party (1980) who terrorised the post-punk soundscape in Australia and the UK [Release the Bats | Nick the Stripper]. The Birthday Party relocated to England and in 1984 the band imploded in an orgy of drugs and booze. Shortly after Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were born [The Ship Song - video & solo live | The Mercy Seat - video & live | Where the Wild Roses Grow], and 23 years and 11 studio albums later (not to mention a best selling book, a great screenplay, some acting and several soundtrack projects) he is still going strong. But, instead of sitting on his musical laurels he decided to get back to basics and, in 2006, grew a huge moustache and formed Grinderman – a four piece with a primeval hybrid Birthday Party/Bad Seeds sound [No Pussy Blues | Honey Bee]. Fellow Mefites, I ask you to raise a glass to Mr. Cave... And, especially if you are not familiar to his work, don't forget to "look inside" for my primer on the enigma that is Nick Cave, one of the finest song-writers on the face of this miserable planet.

The Boys Next Door released a couple of singles and an album, Door, Door (1979) [although the early Birthday Party singles and debut LP were originally credited to the Boys Next Door]. Not much remains except for the LP (re-released on CD), the promo video for the single Shivers, an interview and one decent live recording (1977). The Birthday Party were a tour de force, fuelled primarily by booze and drugs. They made three stunning LPs, the eponymous Birthday Party (later re-released with two singles as Hee-Haw ), Prayers on Fire and Junkyard. The band imploded in 1984 with Mick Harvey leaving the band temporarily. Check out: Junkyard, Sonny's Burning, Deep in the Woods [discography]. (Mick Harvey gets an honourable mention as he is ever present in Nick Cave's music, 24 years to date, playing drums, bass, guitar and keys at diferent times. He has also release several critically acclaimed solo LPs.) Cave re-surfaced straight away with Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson and Blixa Bargeld as the Bad Seeds. (Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubauten also gets an honourable mention, playing guitar with the Bad Seeds from 1984 to 2003.) The Bad Seeds hit hard with From Her to Eternity (1984), taking up the primeval growl where the final Birthday Party EPs left off [ From Her to Eternity | I Put a Spell On You]. They also released a cover of In the Ghetto. (Elvis and Johnny Cash are strong influences in Cave's music, along with John Lee Hooker, the Stooges and Nina Simone.) They followed this with The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), with a more laid back, bluesy edge (although Cave dislikes this being referred to as bluesy) [ Tupelo | Wanted Man]. 1986 saw two LP releases: Kicking Against the Pricks (an LP of cover versions, including Hey, Joe) and Your Funeral, My Trial (a really dark LP with a dense sound) [The Carny, featured in Wim Wenders "Wings of Desire", and also Scum, for the journos] [Interview] 1988 saw Tender Prey released (selfIndulganceFilter: my personal favourite, along with Henry's Dream). The album has a fantastic Elvis-esque sleeve and contains The Mercy Seat (widely regarded as Cave's signature tune and played at most of his shows since 1988, and covered by Johnny Cash) [Deanna | Mercy]. Cave, Bargeld and Harvey scored the soundtrack to Ghosts... Of the Civil Dead, in which Cave acted as well as co-writing the screenplay. The Good Son [1990] was Cave's first release after kicking his heroin addiction, and he produced his most accessible music to date. Songs such as the Weeping Song saw Cave attract a new audience with a mellower sound [Jack the Ripper]. In 1991 a road movie filmed in B/W on Cine 8 called The Road To God Knows Where was released. Henry's Dream (1992) is an intense LP [Straight to You | I Had a Dream, Joe] which is captured vividly in their Live at the Paradiso video. 1994 saw Let Love In [Red Right Hand], and in 1995 Cave dueted with Kylie Minogue on Where the Wild Roses Grow. [Written interview]. This single was included on Murder Ballads (1996) [Stagger Lee], which also included Henry Lee (with PJ Harvey). He also rejected his MTV Award. 1998 saw the release of The Boatman's Call - a really beautiful, chilled piano led LP [Into My Arms | Lime Tree Arbour | Far From Me | People Ain't No Good ]. Cave's debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel was released in 1999. In 2000 he released Secret Life of the Love Song & The Flesh Made Word – two philosophical lectures [transcript]. 2001 saw the mellow No More Shall We Part released [God is in the House | Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow], followed in 2003 by Nocturama (not their finest, best left alone) The double LP Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus was released in 2004. A truly beautiful LP, characterised by a lush production (and featuring members of The London Community Gospel Choir) [Nature Boy | Breathless | Abbatoir Blues | Oh My Lord]. The film The Proposition was released in 2005 (a gritty Western, set in Australia) and as well as writing the screenplay, he and Warren Ellis also recorded the soundtrack. 2006 saw Cave form Grinderman, a raw, stripped down four piece recording and mixing their debut (Grinderman, 2007) in 12 days [Grinderman | Electric Alice | interview]. Cave is joined by Martyn P. Casey, Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos – all from the Bad Seeds. Even at 49 Cave was kicking against the pricks. Their debut live performance was at the All Tomorrows Parties festival (2007) and... (selfIndulganceFilter:) I was there! [And finally... Other Cave YouTube Interviews, and other performances: John the Revelator, I feel so Good, Mack the Knife]

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:08:01 -0800

"Y'know, that moustache ain't so big, I should probably click over and make a comment to that effect and HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" bbiab

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:10:10 -0800

*creams pants* Good lord. Thank you so much for the work you put into this one. "Release the Bats" changed my idea of music. And for folks who have yet to see it, The Proposition is one of the best "western" movies of the last 30 years - better than Unforgiven, better than Pale Rider.

By: bunnycup

bunnycup — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:12:58 -0800

Wow. GREAT post on one of my FAVORITE artists. I'll never forget my first listening of the Birthday Party.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:13:16 -0800

Nice post, thanks. Johnny Cash covers Nick's The Mercy Seat. The Bad Seeds also benefit from the pristine sound production of the renowned sound engineer Flood.

By: cmyk

cmyk — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:14:38 -0800

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. Fantastic post on one of my favorite singers. And yeah, that mustache is.... one hell of a mustache.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:15:00 -0800

Oops, you already got the Cash link.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:15:30 -0800

Jeebus! I'm favoriting this for when I have a month or two free to peruse it.....

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:16:19 -0800

Great post, but it needs some glyphs. ;)

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:17:39 -0800

Dayum. This is the most gargantuan post I've ever laid eyes on. Gotta fave the Cave.

By: flashboy

flashboy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:21:50 -0800

So, uh, you like Nick Cave, huh? Brilliant post.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:23:50 -0800

Holy sh*t. How long have you been waiting to spring this on us? I bow to you and your research skills. I'll be back in a month or so.

By: Rangeboy

Rangeboy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:24:26 -0800

And that, folks, is how you make a FPP.

By: FelliniBlank

FelliniBlank — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:24:39 -0800

I am just so sick of these weak-ass, poorly-researched, thrown-together-in-two-minutes posts. Now please excuse me while I roll around in delight as if delight were baked beans and I were Ann-Margret.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:25:09 -0800

Interesting to note that Mick Harvey, as you mention a multi-instrumentalist and musician's musician, and Nick Cave go back all the way to grammar school where their collaboration began.

By: Kloryne

Kloryne — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:26:16 -0800

You are a good, good man, the very hungry caterpillar. (I assume man, but have a girl friend whose name is the same, so I can't be sure.)

By: edgeways

edgeways — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:30:56 -0800

fantastic way to start your FPP history, and what others have asked in half just I ask in seriousness, how long DID it take you to put this together? Someone should start a website for the best of the... oh er hummm.

By: bluevelvetelvis

bluevelvetelvis — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:32:59 -0800

Thank you the_very_hungry_caterpillar!!! This is like a research paper here. I'm blown away. Thanks again

By: adipocere

adipocere — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:33:04 -0800

Most excellent. This post is as big as a fucking really big brick.

By: psmealey

psmealey — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:33:51 -0800

I sit in silent awe of this post.

By: ardgedee

ardgedee — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:37:16 -0800

Flagged for being the seven-layer model of awesome.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:38:23 -0800

Holy shit that's a lot of ~~mice~~ links!

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:42:23 -0800

Fantastic. However, next time you post something of this magnitude, would it be possible to post it on a workday? Please? Like a monday morning... say 9:30. I would love reading this on company time.

By: Poolio

Poolio — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:43:54 -0800

Good luck maintaining this level of quality, the_very_hungry_caterpillar.

By: ranchocalamari

ranchocalamari — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:44:37 -0800

Fuck... Is there an award for this sort of post? Anyhow, never been a fan of Mr. Cave. But I have it on the word of several well respected friends that I should give him a second, third or fourth try. Your post will help me in that pursuit. Thanx.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:45:32 -0800

btw, you ever notice that NC fans tend to obsessive?

By: idest

idest — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:54:17 -0800

Brilliant! I'm going to wait for the work week to methodically click every damned link.

By: Nelson

Nelson — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:55:19 -0800

That Mercy Seat video is pretentiously awful, but man is that one of my favourite songs ever. And who knew Nick Cave was a hottie?

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:56:09 -0800

Wow. I commend this much effort being put into a post about Nick Cave. Um, just wow. Also, I am happy to learn that he is older than I am. Lastly, do NOT read the book.

By: Flunkie

Flunkie — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:58:51 -0800

Johnny Cash's cover of The Mercy Seat is fantastic. That is all.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:07:43 -0800

Great post. Many thanks.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:13:16 -0800

Anyhow, never been a fan of Mr. Cave. Their albums, as the Bad Seeds, do have a certain un-evenness. The production process was chaotic, presumably due in part to the drugs and alcohol previously mentioned. Each album has at least one of what Nick has called "garbage can songs," an often sonically abrasive rant thrown together as studio time ran out. Each of the original Bad Seeds albums also has at least one preciously polished gem, like The Ship Song, or Straight To You.

By: 3.2.3

3.2.3 — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:25:11 -0800

Your first FPP is the best FPP ever on Metafilter? I can't wait for the second. But I have a feeling another like this will take awhile so I'll be patient. Isn't Nick Cave a genius in a sense?

By: ericost

ericost — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:36:02 -0800

Great post, but what... no mention of his oddball christianity? His introduction to he Gospel of Mark is worth a read.

By: opsin

opsin — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:38:39 -0800

How apropos, I had no idea of this anniversary, but happened to listen to Grinderman in the car today for the first time in a couple of months. Must get round to watching The Proposition!

By: vhsiv

vhsiv — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:42:42 -0800

But what about Nick's marriage (and sibsequent divorce) to PJ Harvey? He subsequently remarried. To a non-musucuan, I think.

By: boardman

boardman — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:04:48 -0800

Happy birthday, Nick. Imho, perhaps the best artist on the planet.

By: Razzle Bathbone

Razzle Bathbone — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:25:19 -0800

Wow, just wow. I have not been able to put my finger on it, but I was not too taken with the Grinderman album. Though I love the fact that my 2nd favourite Triffid (after Evil Graham Lee) still has a good gig.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:32:34 -0800

Great post. While I'm unsure if It's his best compositionally, John Finn's Wife is one of my favorite songs of all time.

By: Sailormom

Sailormom — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:36:47 -0800

Christ what a post! Well done. I haven't had the time to look through all the links so you may have mentioned Nicks work with Lydia Lunch already. If not, this is a nice link. Thanks.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:40:01 -0800

Awesome post. I distinguish myself in having listened to the first Birthday Party album at 14 in a record store and concluding that it was dreck. I was surely wrong.

By: Pecinpah

Pecinpah — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:47:31 -0800

This is an amazing amount of work you've done, and work worth doing as well. Thank you so much. I, too, will be saving this for Monday morning (and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and so on) so that I may more effectively get paid for doing nothing.

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:48:21 -0800

I love Cave. Will read this all the way through, but want to point out there is a Grinderman podcast available on iTunes with at least 5 songs (rough versions worth giving a listen to). I didn't see this mentioned above (sorry if it was). Grinderman iTunes link.

By: humannaire

humannaire — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:53:21 -0800

The Proposition trailer. Wow.

By: gwint

gwint — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:57:05 -0800

First one to view all the links wins a "You're Fired." ...and when I say "You're fired" I of course mean on fire.

By: TwoWordReview

TwoWordReview — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:09:08 -0800

Woah!

By: cjorgensen

cjorgensen — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:15:29 -0800

TwoWordReview, that's only 1 word.

By: nonliteral

nonliteral — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:16:55 -0800

Stunningly good post!

By: Wolof

Wolof — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:43:29 -0800

Extremely well done!

By: RedEmma

RedEmma — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:01:58 -0800

awesome! Nick Cave has been an immovable force on my tight CD rotation since i saw him in that brief bit in Wings of Desire. the beginning of the Iraq War is integrally tied with two songs for me, one of them being the Ship Song. i'll never forget the moment: i was walking along the sands of Lake Superior, and feeling overwhelmed with what was happening, and at the same time, incongruously and guiltily, enjoying my new iPod and the magic of Shuffle--the weirdness of how your iPod seems to know exactly what you need to hear at any given moment. the sky was impossibly blue, the lake impossibly huge, and the song began--and it felt like the lake itself was singing in Nick Cave's voice. and then two F-16s were flying over, around and around in loops the size of the city on the bluffs. i ended up sobbing so deeply it hurt.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:03:06 -0800

What the hell, I'm going to say it again: every one who likes Nick Cave should see The Proposition. It's beautiful, suspenseful, horrifying and very, very smart - a perfect distillation of Cave's perspective, a brilliant western, and pretty damn close to a perfect little movie. All of the standard frontier touchstones - native peoples, mob justice, individual vs. society, inevitable bloodshed, heartbreak - are translated to Australia and presented like new for your brain to chew on. Oh, and it has the most frightening Christmas dinner you'll ever see on film. Cave wrote and performed the music, which is fantastically eerie, and the story of the screenplay is kinda funny: Cave was initially hired to come up with the idea and then move on. But...it didn't work out that way. "We were both getting frustrated with how long the script was taking," says Hillcoat, referring to the previous screenwriter, who shall go unnamed. "There was another attempt at writing it. It was wonderful but it didn't work out..." "He wrote an American Western," interrupts Cave, who has been good friends with Hillcoat for more than 30 years. "And we both wanted to do something that was Australian entirely. So John asked me to help and I did...As soon as I sat down to write this story, I started adding a bit of dialogue here and there and then I thought, 'Oh fuck it. I might as well do the whole thing.'"

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:04:35 -0800

Wonderful post. I'll be spending a lot of time with this one. Thanks, the_very_hungry_caterpillar.

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:19:37 -0800

his birthday, our gift.

By: czechmate

czechmate — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:20:26 -0800

I was introduced to Nick Cave on a trip to a spooky cemetery with a guy I barely knew. It captured such a raw situation for me that I've appreciated NC ever since. He's the essence of atmosphere. Thank you for such a great post.

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:28:00 -0800

Apart from the impressive mustache, the photos of Cave show how excellent an embodiment of Burroughs' "the look of borrowed flesh common to all who survive The Sickness" he is. You can take one look at him and tell he's an ex-junkie. The intensity of his music is certainly complemented by that intense look.

By: rmm

rmm — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:28:08 -0800

Wow... whatever they feed your breed of catepillars, keep eating it. Fantastic stuff, and just rose the bar about 50 feet for what makes an amazing post. Thank you... The handlebar must go, though. Not that I really care about these things, but it's just... strange and jarring. Yes, I'm a handlebarist I suppose.

By: brevator

brevator — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:31:21 -0800

I like Nick Cave.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:38:21 -0800

But what about Nick's marriage (and sibsequent divorce) to PJ Harvey? A good portion of the earlier love songs are about Anita Lane, who has co-authorship of a song or two, supposedly because coming out of the stupor on the next afternoon it wasn't always possible to tell whose handwriting it was in the blood-spattered notebook.

By: EarBucket

EarBucket — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:42:27 -0800

I used The Ship Song in a mix I put together for a production of "Children of a Lesser God." It'll always be a song about James and Sarah Leeds for me. Beautiful.

By: gingerbeer

gingerbeer — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:51:53 -0800

All this and no mention of Nick Cave dolls? "They have Nick Cave dolls now? I want one!" Seriously - nice FPP.

By: rougy

rougy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:27:00 -0800

. I remember his scene in "Wings of Desire." Cheers, Nick.

By: rougy

rougy — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:27:54 -0800

(p.s. - "From Her to Eternity" - gotta hear it)

By: brujita

brujita — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 22:27:58 -0800

I've been hooked ever since watching Wings of Desire from my perch in the Brattle balcony during the early 90's....but this is the first I've known about Grinderman :-\

By: brent_h

brent_h — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:05:40 -0800

I first heard nick cave on the soundtrack to a movie called Gas Food Lodging ( I am a huge Dinosaur Jr fan, and J mascis did a bunch of the score), The song was Lamet, and it was really like nothing I had ever heard before at the time. But I wasn't until a X-Files themed compilation came out, and I heard Red right hand, that I was hooked. I went out and bought a greatest hits, and then have since purchased his entire discography. To be honest, Grinderman doesn't do much for me. I got it the day it came out, and I haven't been able to listen to the album more than a few times. Not sure what it is.

By: bigschmoove

bigschmoove — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:44:51 -0800

This post is insane. in a good way

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:42:20 -0800

I had no idea about the existance of Grinderman, thankyou, I see much listening ahead. Until you showed me Grinderman, I had feared a little for Nick Cave, with his recent efforts. I mean, they're very good , in a singer-songwriter kind of way, but I had been praying he would go back to doing something mean. Thank you, there will be no encore.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:46:41 -0800

I should mention that when I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds live, I swear Blixa Bargeld spent the whole gig playing nothing but a single note on the guitar. And it sounded fucking awesome.

By: dogwalker

dogwalker — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 00:54:17 -0800

One of my favorite songs is Nick Cave's version of "Knoxville Girl" which was released as a b-side awhile back. It's this awesome juxtaposition of his smooth voice, simple guitar, and the most basic fucked scenario of killing your girlfriend. I must now check out The Proposition as I think it may be the film equivalent. Thanks. The only way this post could be better would be if it was made of lasers and glass.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:33:22 -0800

BEST. FPP. EVAR! have seen Nick a million times. and for Wings of Desire trainspotters...used to live above Simon & Bronwyn Bonney - of Crime & the City Solution - the other band that plays in that Berlin nightclub. Simon's way aloof, Bronny's insane, in the best way possible. Grinderman tix booked for Sydney! *PRAISE HIM!!!*

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 02:36:04 -0800

heh. a personal vow is never to do karaoke until Release the Bats is on the playlist... Baby is a cool machine She moves to the pulse of her generator Says damn that sex supreme. She says, she says damn that horror bat Sex horror sex bat sex sex horror sex vampire Sex bat horror vampire sex Cool machine Horror bat. bite! Cool machine. bite! Sex vampire. bite!

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:19:23 -0800

this post is ***USELESS*** without nick & shane macgowan (of the Pogues) doing: what a wonderful world bad very hungry caterpillar! BAD! BAD! BAD!

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:19:53 -0800

No no no, never do karaoke unless you're willing to get your gear off and Nick the Stripper is on the playlist... Nick The Stripper a-hideous to the eye a-hideous to the eye well he's a fat little insect a fat little insect a fat little insect a fat little insect and ooooooooh! here we go again Alas, I'm not as svelt as old Nick...

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:25:09 -0800

A brilliant post for a brilliant man. Cave is pretty much sex on two feet.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:25:21 -0800

Nick Cave doing the Pogues' Rainy Night in Soho

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:39:03 -0800

Jimbob: heh. nick the stripper was there in my first draft. Unfortunately, i cannot find Shane's version of Lucy, the other B-side of What a Wonderful World, where Nick did one of Shane's songs, and vice versa. Shane's Lucy tears one apart. Last night I lay trembling The moon it was low It was the end of love Of misery and woe Then suddenly above me Her face buried in light Came a vision of beauty All covered in white Now the bell-tower is ringing And the night has stole past O Lucy, can you hear me? Wherever you rest I'll love her forever I'll love her for all time I'll love her till the stars Fall down from the sky Now the bell-tower is ringing And I shake on the floor O Lucy, can you hear me? When I call and call Now the bell-tower is ringing And the moon it is high O Lucy, can you hear me When I cry and cry and cry

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 03:50:21 -0800

*slaps very hungry caterpillar on wrist* link to *fifteen feet of pure white snow* goes instead to *i had a dream, joe*. no great loss, there, but sheesh! couldn't you have tested all those hundreds of links before posting?

By: the_very_hungry_caterpillar

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:01:45 -0800

Wow! Thank you all for the kind comments. When I finished putting this together I was in two minds whether to post it or it not - I thought it was a bit self-indulgent - but I reckoned the MetaFilter massive could handle it! Having listened to Cave since 1982ish, it is fairly easy to do, I just didn't realise how long it would take to get the links together. [It also pissed me off that everytime you try and Google a song or album name you just get shitloads of lyric sites and music shops back - come on Google, let me search in a different way!] To address some of the comments - it took about an hour to write and two hours toget the links together, and sorry I didn't post it on a work day, but I thought it would be better posted on Cave's actual birthday. I left out just about everything except his musical output with BP and NC&TBS as I wanted the focus to be on his music. It is difficult to glean accurate info about his love life and religeous views as he has a fundamental dislike of journos and plays with their heads at interview. I am hoping to do more posting soon (agreed, Poolio!) and, growing up in and around the Alternative/New Wave explosion 1979-1985 (and being a Goth [but not like that Marilyn Manson bollocks]) that is the music which I loved, and still love. Next targets - Bauhaus, Killing Joke (they're from my hometown & Jaz's mum taught me at school),early Cure, early Sisters of Mercy, early New Model Army or Joy Division. [Or, if anyone fancies it, the Inca Babies, Play Dead or Tubeway Army] Nick Cave karaoke - Gotta be Scum (exceprt): I'm your creator I think you fuckin traitor, chronic masturbator, Shitlicker, user, self-abuser, jigger jigger! What rock did you crawl from? Which ..... did you come? You Judas, Brutus, Vitus, Scum! Hey four-eyes, come That's right, it's a gun Face is bubble, blood, and ...... street Snowman with six holes clean into his fat fuckin guts Psychotic drama mounts Guts well deep then a spring is fount (?) I unload into his eyes Blood springs Dead snow Blue skies Obsessive? Me? Nah. Now where did I put that collection of his toe-nail and hair clippings....?

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:26:52 -0800

I wanna tell you about the very hungry caterpillar He was a miserable shitwringing turd Like he reminded me of some evil gnome Shakin hands was like shakin a hot, fat, oily bone Holdin on for far too long Yes he took me in, he took me in He said that I looked pale and thin I told him he looked fat His lips were red and lickin wet His house was roastin hot In fact it was a fuckin slum Scum! Scum! Well then he hooked up with some slut from the same game Black snow! Black snow! Cocksuckstress, and I should know Mean and vicious, her microphone always smelled suspicious His and herpes bath towel type If you know what I mean I could not look at him, worm He'd be takin a shower and who should walk in He was the epitome of their type Her middle name was Welcome, his was Wipe Scum! Scum! Well you're on the shit list Thrust and twist, twist and screw You gave me a bad review And maybe you think that it's all just water under the bridge Well my UNfriend, I'm the type that holds a grudge I'm your creator I think you fuckin traitor, chronic masturbator, Shitlicker, user, self-abuser, jigger jigger! What rock did you crawl from? Which ..... did you come? You Judas, Brutus, Vitus, Scum!

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:31:08 -0800

vhc: what if i told you somebody i know might possibly have been thinking of getting rid of some handwritten proofs of *and the ass saw the angel* drafts...? heh.

By: Coaticass

Coaticass — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:42:11 -0800

What an excellent post! Happy birthday Mr Cave. Also: Posts about Cage and Cave make a wonderful juxtaposition. *releases the bats, as instructed*

By: the_very_hungry_caterpillar

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:45:59 -0800

vhc: what if i told you somebody i know might possibly have been thinking of getting rid of some handwritten proofs of *and the ass saw the angel* drafts...? heh. Well, I have a son... he's only three, but he's a hard little worker!

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:52:49 -0800

About 13 or so years ago, I worked at the Tower Records in Greenwich Village in NYC. While I was there, Cave was supposed to do an in-store signing. He signed some autographs, then excused himself, locked himself in the manager's office, and shot up, following which they kicked him out and canceled the rest of the event. That's pretty much how my first impression of him formed - utter asshat. Hasn't changed much I'm afraid.

By: scruss

scruss — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:54:07 -0800

He murdered the murder ballads, though. His leering "ooh I'm so baaaad!" delivery never gets much beyond that of teenagers pretending to be evil in their bedrooms. Murder ballads are nasty songs about nasty people, and that's why singing them in a mannered style with a stringband accompaniment is way more twisted than Cave could ever manage. Still, pretty good he's made it to 50 after all that skag, eh?

By: Aversion Therapy

Aversion Therapy — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 07:57:32 -0800

Still, pretty good he's made it to 50 after all that skag, eh? Maybe he's related to Keith Richaards, somehow.

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 08:47:05 -0800

I used to write erotic poetry about Nick Cave in high school No, really. Explains a lot, doesn't it?

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:49:58 -0800

But what about Nick's marriage (and sibsequent divorce) to PJ Harvey? Um, they never married. Affair yes, marriage no. I'm still recovering from the knowledge that she was subsequently involved with Vincent Gallo. Eeeeeeeew.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:18:45 -0800

Best first post ever.

By: ranchocalamari

ranchocalamari — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 12:39:51 -0800

If you are a fan of Mr. Cave, take a gander at the Leonard Cohen doc "I'm your man". Nick does three or four of the numbers including the title track. In the interview segments he tells that LC was a huge early influence on his work. I just rented the DVD from netflix and it's worth a look.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:31:20 -0800

For the record, Nick has a child, Luke, with Viviane Carneiro, a Sao Paulo fashion stylist who "gave him atrocious love pains", and he is currently married to model Susie Bick.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:25:32 -0800

He signed some autographs, then excused himself, locked himself in the manager's office, and shot up, following which they kicked him out and canceled the rest of the event. That's pretty much how my first impression of him formed - utter asshat. Hasn't changed much I'm afraid. On the bright side, we wouldn't have had Sugar Sugar Sugar had it not been for his period of junkiedom. I'm not the biggest fan of junkies, but I think you're being a bit harsh here. You wouldn't make the same conclusion about an artist who popped outside for a cigarette during a signing, would you?

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:28:37 -0800

Next targets - Bauhaus, Killing Joke (they're from my hometown & Jaz's mum taught me at school),early Cure, early Sisters of Mercy, early New Model Army or Joy Division. post away!

By: Saellys

Saellys — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 16:33:05 -0800

I've been madly in love with Nick Cave ever since his bit in Wings of Desire. He's just about the only person on the planet who can pull of rhyming things with "Gibraltar" and still sound like a badass. Thanks for the post.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:29:35 -0800

oh, rhyming with gibraltar's nothing: I was walking around the flower show like a leper Coming down with some kind of nervous hysteria When I saw you standing there, green eyes, black hair Up against the pink and purple wisteria

By: tellurian

tellurian — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:39:50 -0800

Lastly, do NOT read the book. That is a really bad piece of advice. Really, really bad.

By: grimley

grimley — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:01:46 -0800

and one cannot forget that bad cover version of disco 2000 that he gave pulp for the single. Let Love In has always been my favorite, as it was my first. Though I'm really liking Grinderman. And wasn't And the Ass Saw the Angel released in 1989? nitpick, i know...

By: churl

churl — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:29:18 -0800

Thanks for this excellent post. I've only to add that Loverman (Bad Seeds era) is one of my favorite videos by any artist, and in my humble opinion deserves a mention in this thread.

By: jonathanstrange

jonathanstrange — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 20:34:34 -0800

All I can say is that I've been a HUGE Nick Cave fan for years, unlike my older sister... I've seen NC & TBS live, but... the COW managed to get herself to Grinderman's very first gig. So unfair. GREAT post - I'm horribly jealous, but realise I'm far too lazy to make such a great post myself! :P

By: El Brendano

El Brendano — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 02:35:13 -0800

I've been hooked on Cave ever since Zoo-Music-Girl - and this fine post is like a substantial meal. I'm enjoying it immensely, but I may find it hard to move for a few hours afterward....

By: asok

asok — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 05:25:22 -0800

I like the story of how 'Where the wild roses grow' happened. Cave and Mingue were back at home in Melbourne, staying with their parents when somehow (the details illude me) they got in contact via their mums and decided to collaborate. - Can Kylie come out to play, Mrs Minogue? - I'll just ask her. What game are you going to play? - Murder. - OK, you kids have fun now!