Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Nicholas Edward Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for his work in the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and his fascination with American music and its roots. He has a reputation, which he disowns, for singing dark, brooding songs which some listeners regard as depressing. His music is characterised by intensity, high energy and a wide variety of influences. He currently lives in Brighton & Hove in England.
Cave released his first book King Ink, in 1988. It is a collection of lyrics and plays, including collaborations with American enfant terrible Lydia Lunch.
While he was based in West Berlin, Cave started working on what was to become his debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989). Significant crossover is evident between the themes in the book and the lyrics Cave wrote in the late stages of the Birthday Party and the early stage of his solo career. "Swampland", from Mutiny, in particular, uses the same linguistic stylings ('mah' for 'my', for instance) and some of the same themes (the narrator being haunted by the memory of a girl called Lucy, being hunted like an animal, approaching death and execution). A collectors' limited edition of the book appeared in 2007.
Cave wrote the foreword to a Canongate publication of the Gospel according to Mark, published in the UK in 1998. The American publication of the same book contains a foreword by a different author.
“Oh, fuck it, I'm a monster, I admit it!”
“There Will Always Be Suffering It Flows Through Life Like Water”
“Sorrow’s child grieves not what has passed But all the past still yet to come…”
“Nature BoyI was just a boy when I sat downTo watch the news on TVI saw some ordinary slaughterI saw some routine atrocityMy father said, don't look awayYou got to be strong, you got to be bold, nowHe said, that in the end it is beautyThat is going to save the world, nowAnd she moves among the sparrowsAnd she floats upon the breezeShe moves among the flowersShe moves something deep inside of meI was walking around the flower show like a leperComing down with some kind of nervous hysteriaWhen I saw you standing there, green eyes, black hairUp against the pink and purple wisteriaYou said, hey, nature boy, are you looking at meWith some unrighteous intention?My knees went weak,I couldn't speak, I was having thoughtsThat were not in my best interests to mentionAnd she moves among the flowersAnd she floats upon the smokeShe moves among the shadowsShe moves me with just one little lookYou took me back to your placeAnd dressed me up in a deep sea diver's suitYou played the patriot, you raised the flagAnd I stood at full saluteLater on we smoked a pipe that struck me dumbAnd made it impossible to speakAs you closed in, in slow motion,Quoting Sappho, in the original GreekShe moves among the shadowsShe floats upon the breezeShe moves among the candlesAnd we moved through the daysand through the yearsYears passed by, we were walking by the seaHalf deliriousYou smiled at me and said, BabeI think this thing is getting kind of seriousYou pointed at something and saidHave you ever seen such a beautiful thing?It was then that I broke downIt was then that you lifted me up againShe moves among the sparrowsAnd she walks across the seaShe moves among the flowersAnd she moves something deep inside of meShe moves among the sparrowsAnd she floats upon the breezeShe moves among the flowersAnd she moves right up close to me”