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Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - The Videos



Greetings all! For this month, I wanted to do something a little different. Continuing forth with a suggestion from one of the VC Associates - (thank you Russell :o) ) this will be one of those music reviews of a different kind. I suppose there are many ways of reviewing music aside from the usual way - and so I decided on a DVD of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The great thing about this DVD is the fact that for each song/video, he gives a little commentary on the where's and why for's of each song/video. There are a grand total of 20 (count em!) videos on this DVD, making it excellent value for money, but I will only be reviewing a few of them, lest it become a review of epic proportions :o)

Some of the songs take some time to grow on you, and Nick's voice is something of an acquired taste, also. This is not to say his voice sucks - There are certainly those out there with more melodic voices than Nick's. In this instance, it's not the voice so much as it is the lyrics, and musical style, that he has come to be known for. I personally, would put his voice into the same category as Carl McCoy from Fields Of The Nephilim (most especially on Tupelo!), and apparently, Carl was rather heavily influenced by Nick. That however, is another review! That being said, this DVD isn't new - or rather, the songs in it aren't. It was put out in 2004, and he does have a new album out which is worthy of purchasing. Perhaps I can review it another time.



This DVD has grabbed my attention for many reasons, one of them being the fact that he took an idea from a very old song, and gave it a new twist, using his own lyrics. The song "Stagger Lee" has origins that some argue goes back into the late 1800's, and has become something of an urban legend. Through having done some research on the song, I found that Stagger Lee the person, did actually exist, but apparently, since there are much older songs bearing similar names (Stacka Lee, Stagolee, Stack Lee, etc) no one can be totally sure of when the original Stagger Lee existed. In Lloyd Price's version however, it dates him back to the 1930's. Some venture to say Stagger Lee was also a pimp, and others, just a ruthless gambling man. It's worth mentioning the version done by the Grateful Dead, who take it from Billy Delion's wife's perspective - she wanted Stagger arrested, and apparently, the law enforcement in those days didn't have it in them to try conclusions with the man, so she set about getting revenge in her own way. That consisted of firstly seducing him, and then, shooting him in the testicles! Although Stagger Lee goes through being shot, electrocuted in the electric chair, and hung in another version, he seems to be something of a man who simply won't die. According to Nick Cave:
"I have this huge misanthropic streak, and a lot of my stuff is black humor. Traditionally it's been a song where the next person tries to make the Stagger Lee character seem even worse, so he just gets badder and badder". (Kerrang, issue# 1029, Oct. 30th, 2004) Many bands have covered the familiar Lloyd Price version of Stagger Lee, but fewer have written another version. It's worth noting that back when Lloyd's version was popular, Dick Clark invited him to perform it on American Bandstand, providing Price rewrite the lyrics, thereby purging the song of its original violence! Doesn't this sound familiar? Anyone remember the same instance with The Doors on the Ed Sullivan show? (see, cuz ya can't say 'higher' on national television!) SO...Stagger Lee was turned into more of a nice, wholesome tune in which he and Billy Delion had an argument, mended their ways, and became bestest buddy pals in the end :o) Awwww, now aint that sweet! What a great shame for Billy Delion that it didn't turn out that way! Ok, while I'd like to be able to share Nick Cave's version here (1995), it's very explicit, so instead, I'll provide a http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Nick-Cave-The-Bad- Seeds/Stagger-Lee.html, and those interested can check it out for themselves. I apologize in advance - this page (like any page of this nature) does have popups!



I have just realized that I could easily do an entire review on one song! So moving on here, I was also intrigued, as I'm sure were many others worldwide, about the next song on the DVD entitled "Where The Wild Roses Grow". Additionally, I went hunting to see if perhaps this was also a song which had some historical facts in it, in which this ballad was composed. Nope. It's just all part of the vast recesses of Nick's mind. When asked why he composes songs of this nature, his response is forthright:
"I enjoy writing about violence," he says sardonically. "I love the words you can use. It seems to me that most art I find interesting or important stands on ethically very shaky ground." 'Murder Ballads' is a confused account of my feelings towards this type of human being [serial killer]. But I've written murder songs throughout my career. Writing these kinds of songs requires a different approach," says Cave. "It's much easier to write narrative fictional songs, I can do that anytime. Those stories just live up in my head, I can get them down easily. To write a good personal (for lack of a better term) song is something I have to wait for, it's given to me in some way or another. I wrote a lot of them at the same time as the 'Murder Ballads' record. I was writing the record when we decided to make 'Murder Ballads', so while I was writing these love songs I sat down and wrote twelve songs about murder".
Hmmmmm, interesting! Maybe I should have reviewed 'Murder Ballads' instead! Anyway, this was one of Nick's more favorite songs for 2 reasons - one, because he got Kylie Minogue to agree to sing the part of Elisa Day, and two, because he already had a clear cut vision of how it would be when they put it on video format. The result was both electrifying and utterly scary as you get a peak inside the mind of a psychopath. This song is particularly disturbing. And just like the roses she has been nicknamed for, she is seemingly naive and innocent, as though she doesn't see the impending danger which he represents. It starts off nice enough. A song about a man courting a beautiful young woman, but in the end, like a rose, he plucks her life away, killing her with a blow from a rock to her head.

"On the third day he took me to the river
He showed me the roses and we kissed
And the last thing I heard was a muttered word
As he stood smiling above me with a rock in his fist..
On the last day I took her where the wild roses grow
And she lay on the bank, the wind light as a thief
As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die'
And lent down and planted a rose between her teeth..
They call me The Wild Rose
But my name was Elisa Day
Why they call me it I do not know
For my name was Elisa Day"

The video is beautiful. Shadows and sepia tones, Kylie in white with red hair and lips, and roses in bloom of a similar hue. But the story is sorrowful, and briefly violent. This is one of those songs that when, accompanied by the video, really plays havoc on your psyche. The emotions begin to run wild even though this was not an event that happened. But it's still one that puts the mind to wandering on a strange journey of love and pain in every sense of the word.

The next song chosen is "The Ship Song". It's one of two people in a relationship that just isn't going anywhere anymore. Though they have tried talking about it, no conclusion is reached, except that it's time to move on. The lyrics are written in such a poignant way that it's painfully obvious what the point of the song is, but at the same time, it also evokes other images.

"We talk about it all night long
We define our moral ground
But when I crawl into your arms
Everything comes tumbling down
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly".



Nice song, but sad, isn't it? A lot of his songs are this way, and trying not to be analytical here, I think a lot of it is written from personal experiences he has gone through, and maybe still goes through. With the exception of the murder ballads - that takes a complicated mind to concoct lyrics like those! And speaking of complicated lyrics, this next song is absolutely brilliant. If anyone out here ever thought Metallica's "Ride The Lightning" was good (and I was one who once thought so!) they don't hold a candle to Nick's song "The Mercy Seat", Even Johnny Cash did a cover of it once. Says Nick, "he could take a line (from a song) and make it both heaven and hell at the same time". The Mercy Seat is a song about a man on death row, about to be electrocuted. He goes through the motions of recanting his life, and what he's done, and then the reality of what's about to happen. It's such a well written song, that you can actually see the course of events unfolding in your own head as they occur.

"In Heaven His throne is made of gold
The ark of his Testament is stowed
A throne from which I'm told
All history does unfold.
Down here it's made of wood and wire
And my body is on fire
And God is never far away.
Into the mercy seat I climb
My head is shaved, my head is wired
And like a moth that tries
To enter the bright eye
I go shuffling out of life
Just to hide in death awhile
And anyway I never lied.
My kill-hand is called E.V.I.L.
Wears a wedding band that's G.O.O.D.
`Tis a long-suffering shackle
Collaring all that rebel blood.
And the mercy seat is waiting
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I'm yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I'm not afraid to die".



Not a lot more one can really say about that song. It speaks loud and clear in booming volumes of its own. Ok, one final tune, and it's a good one. It's called "Do You Love Me"? and it's one of those songs where someone finds himself in one of those relationships that starts out nice and fine, but ends up in a hell of a wreck in the end. And such is the case here. He found himself a woman with both heaven and hell inside of her, and she has no problem letting hell come out when it suits her.

"I found her on a night of fire and noise
Wild bells rang in a wild sky
I knew from that moment on
I'll love her till the day that I died
And I kissed away a thousand tears
My lady of the Various Sorrows
Some begged, some borrowed, some stolen
Some kept safe for tomorrow
On and endless night, silver star spangled
The bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you?

She was given to me to put things right
And I stacked all my accomplishments beside her
Still I seemed so obsolete and small
I found God and all His devils inside her
In my bed she cast the blizzard out
A mock sun blazed upon her head
So completely filled with light she was
Her shadow fanged and hairy and mad
Our love-lines grew hopelessly tangled
And the bells from the chapel went jingle-jangle

Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Do you love me?
Do you love me? Like I love you? "

According to Nick, he came to the conclusion at long last that he simply chose all the wrong people! Well, we all make mistakes. Alrighty, now you have sat through reading all this, no doubt for those of you who do not, you'll want to know more about this fabulous man and the rest of the group. There are a lot of good sites out there, but this one is the official Nick Cave site Have a good look around, there are a lot of good things on this site, plus links to others. It promotes the recent album, and has sound clips from the same for you to enjoy. For clips of songs from "The Videos", the best bet to be able to hear some of them, is by checking out the album "Murder Ballads" which can be found here.

Ok, that's a wrap! As usual, I hope you found this an enjoyable read! Enjoy Spring now it has come! I'll see you all next month :o)

Best regards,

Silver


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