Cheers mate. Yea, I like it. I don't actually see it as being particularly like Skeleton Tree, more an obvious .... kind of ... next step in the theme and style. and the thing is, although I think this is a great album, I am already wondering where on earth he will go next
Definitely,this album is one or 2 moves forward even toward more ambient style than Skeleton Tree.Regarding the next album...Maybe space ambient music with Tibetan chants and the singing vocals or spoken word of NicK Cave?
Night Raid We start with some nice textures, that are synth generated, and there are also some somewhat bell-like tones that are synth generated. Also underneath, there is a somewhat ominous sounding ambient drone. Cave's vocal sounds close mic'd and direct. For me the textures work well to have a tension that works well with the vocals. The backing vocals do a good job of adding to the textural delicacy of this track. There's a picture of Jesus lying in his mother's arms Shuttered windows, cars humming on the street below The fountain throbbed in the lobby of the Grand Hotel We checked into room thirty-three, well well, well well You were a runaway flake of snow You were skinny and white as a wafer, yeah I know Sitting on the edge of the bed clicking your shoes I slid my little songs out from under you And we all rose from our wonder We would never admit defeat And we leaned out of the window As the rain fell on the street, on the street They were just a sigh released from a dying star They were runaway flakes of snow, yeah I know They annexed your insides in a late night raid We sent down for drinks and something to eat The cars humming in the rain on the street below A fountain throbs in the lobby of the Grand Hotel A spurting font of creativity, yeah I know Your head in a pool of your own streaming hair And Jesus lying in his mother's arms Just so up on the wall, just so And we all rose up from our wonder We would never admit defeat And we leaned out of the window And watched the horses in the street, in the street In room thirty-three, yeah Yeah, I know Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Night Raid lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. I really like the picture Cave is painting with these lyrics. I am not going to suggest I know exactly what the story is with this track, but the way the picture is painted with the words appeals to me. I can certainly make assumptions about the story behind the painting, but I don't feel the need to because the picture is satisfying of itself.
Played this three or four times now and really like it. I’m fair from being as expert on his music, having only been listening to him seriously for around a year now. For me it definitely follows on from Skeleton Tree. There are distinct similarities. But it’s also different. It’s more upbeat. I’ve never heard him hit the upper registers of his voice before either.
Sun Forest We swell into the song with a smooth synth. It creates a nice atmosphere, and by this stage of the album, one realises that if you're looking for some grinding and vitriol, this is not going to be the album for it. There are some very cool textures blended into the opening, and this creates musical interest for me. A piano comes in, with a synth countermelody. Lyrically we get a very close association with the inner grief, but it isn't a direct reference, it is merely a reference . As we move into what we'll call the chorus, we again get a beautiful blend of backing vocals that again add some nice texture and fill out the feel of the song. The chorus in spite of what many suggest, has a beautiful melody. Again I understand why folks may not like this album, but there is plenty of melody, and there is definitely variance in texture, but this is an album of subtleties. This song works really well for me, and so far the album is doing an amazing job of maintaining a mood and feel, and also keeping the interest up via the lyrical pictures, and the textures being used to hold this mood and texture solid front and centre. I lay in the forest amongst the butterflies and the fireflies And the burning horses and the flaming trees As a spiral of children climb up to the sun Waving goodbye to you and goodbye to me As the past pulls away and the future begins I say goodbye to all that as the future rolls in Like a wave, like a wave And the past with its savage undertow lets go Come on everyone, come on everyone A spiral of children climbs up to the sun, to the sun, to the sun And on each golden rung, a spiral of children climbs up to the sun And a man called Jesus, he promised he would leave us With a word that would light up the night, oh the night But the stars hang from threads and blink off one by one And it isn't any fun, no it isn't any fun To be standing here alone with nowhere to be With a man mad with grief and on each side a thief Everybody hanging from a tree, from a tree And everybody hanging from a tree Come on everyone, come on everyone A spiral of children climb up to the sun, to the sun, to the sun, taking everyone A spiral of children climbs up to the sun There is nothing more valuable than beauty they say There is nothing more valuable than love And I lie amongst the leaves and the burning trees And the fields of smoke and the black butterflies And the screaming horses and your bright green eyes, so beautiful Ah your bright green eyes, so beautiful I am here beside you Look for me in the sun I am beside you, I am within In the sunshine, in the sun Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Sun Forest lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Galleon Ship The taped vocal, synths and swells give the intro a nice texture. Although there are a lot of atmospheric style backing tracks on here, I think they have their own personalities. I don't find them to be the same. We get a nice choir again, and I think these subtle arrangements work in favour of the songs. We get a dynamic swell around the halfway mark and the piano adds some texture, and backing vocals that sound like distant crying souls. I think it works very well. Lyrically this song comes in the form of a picturesque love song, and I love the imagery used here. This could well be a follow up to the Ship Song, not that it is that similar, but merely a furthering of the theme. The Ship Song is like an expression of fresh love and longing for longevity. This feels more like an older long time love, reiterated for encouragement. If I could sail a galleon ship, a long, lonely rider across the sky Seek out mysteries while you sleep And treasures money cannot buy For you know I see you everywhere A servant girl, an empress My galleon ship will fly and fall Fall and fly and fly and fall Deep into your loveliness And if we rise my love Before the daylight comes A thousand galleon ships will sail Ghostly around the morning sun As the city rises up, as the city rises up, as the city rises up For we are not alone, it seems, so many riders in the sky The winds of longing in their sails, searching for the other side And if we rise my love Oh my darling precious one We'll stand and watch the galleon ships Circle around the morning sun Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Galleon Ship lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
I got dragged along by friends to an industrial punk party/gig in a big warehouse in Hackney, London in the mid to late 1980’s. There were lots of bands playing simultaniously in different parts of the building, and industrial punk ain’t really my thing, but I managed to stumble across Crime And The City Solution playing in one of the rooms. Had no idea that they’d be doing the gig. They were great and there weren’t many people watching so it was sort of quite an intimate affair. I vaguely knew about them from The Boys Next Door album and The Birthday Party, but was more a fan of the early Bad Seeds records. Crazy days.
Ghosteen Speaks A really nice slow swell, and here we have layered synths. Several of them combine to create the bed of this track. As much as we are told that this isn't about Arthur, and I can agree for the most part on these songs, this track seems to be fairly direct, for Cave at least. This seems to be almost a reference to Arthur's presence. I am beside you, I am beside you I am beside you, I am beside you Look for me, look for me I am beside you, look for me I try to forget, to remember that nothing is something Where something is meant to be I am beside you, I am beside you Look for me, look for me I think they've, well they've gathered here for me I am within you, you are within me I am beside you, you are beside me I think they're singing to be free, I think they're singing to be free I think my friends have gathered here for me I think they've gathered here for me To be beside me Look for me, look for me I am beside you, you are beside me You are beside me Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Ghosteen Speaks lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. The vocal phrasing is very spaced and there is no hurry to get the words out, as one would probably expect if the track is a reference to Arthur. Although probably not my favourite track here, I think this track is particularly haunting in light of the lyrics, and their delivery.
Leviathan Although these songs are built on ambient landscapes, I think there are some wonderfully subtle differences in those landscapes, and this one especially has quite broad differences. We get some almost Peter Gabriel-like gentle percussion, and the breadth of the backing track is really quite involved. This ends up being an excellent closer to the first disc, and I love the way it works here. We have Cave's vocals, and then just passed the middle of the song we get a really cool, almost gospel array of Cave's voice set up as a choir, and it sounds beautiful. Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me We talked it 'round and 'round again Then drove the car down to the sea, the sea We sat in the car park for an hour or two I love my baby and my baby loves me, loves me I love my baby and my baby loves me It's vast and wild and it's deep as the sea, the sea And as the sun sinks into the water now, now, now I love my baby and my baby loves me, loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my I love my baby and my baby loves me Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Leviathan lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. Lyrically this is merely a reflective love song, and it swims deeply in the atmosphere, and as I say, for me, it brings the first disc to and end beautifully.
I haven't forgotten about this, I have just been pressed for time, and don't want to rush it. We will hit disc two shortly Cheers Mark
Are these songs really not about Arthur? Am I falling into the same trap as all those Taylor Swift stans, interpreting every lyric to be about the loss of Cave’a son the way they look for clues about Swift’s dating life? Cave seems to have such a wounded wisdom on this album—it feels more lived in than his gothic fairy tales of the past (which were all effective fictions that spoke to subconscious truths)—his writing on this record blends pain, and insight, and nostalgia, and courage in a way I’ve not heard before.
There is very little that I directly relate to Arthur. I think the feel could be related to that, but very few lyrics ... obviously just my opinion though.
Ghosteen The first of the epic tracks on disc two. A gentle interplay between the synth and the piano. A subtle vocal resting in the mix of those. The we get a smooth, and quite pretty melody rising out of this on the synth, which gets joined by some strings sounds. If it had a dance beat underneath, it could almost be New Order. Then we get a really nice layered counter melody play on top of that and the piano embellishes its initially minimal chordal style. We have a soothing, meditative introduction, that is quite long. It is designed to set the mood, and the mood is either going to work for you, or it isn't. It works for me, but the vocal comes in just at a point where I am thinking that something needs to happen. We move into the chorus, and we have a really nice change up. The music changes faces quite a lot, and the vocal melody works really well, getting some nice choral type backing vocals. The song then has a sort of ritard, and the mood changes again. We have a lone synth melody, and Cave comes in with another run of vocals. This world is beautiful Held within its stars I keep it in my heart The stars are your eyes I loved them right from the start A world so beautiful And I keep it in my heart A ghosteen dances in my hand Slowly twirling, twirling all around Glowing circle in my hand Dancing, dancing, dancing all around (in my hand) A ghosteen dances in my hand Slowly twirling, twirling all around A ghosteen dances in my hand Dancing, dancing, dancing all around Here we go There goes the moonlit man Got a suitcase in his hand He's moving on down the road Things tend to fall apart starting with his heart He kisses you lightly and he leaves Leaves your sleeping body Curled and dreaming around your smile, your smile The three bears watch the TV They age a lifetime, oh lord Mama bear holds the remote, papa bear he just floats And baby bear, he has gone to the moon in a boat, on a boat I'm speaking about love now And how the lights of love go down You're in the back room washing his clothes Love's like that, you know, it's like a tidal flow And the past with its fierce undertow won't ever let us go Won't ever let you go If I could move the night I would And I would turn the world around if I could There's nothing wrong with loving something you can't hold in your hand You're sitting on the edge of the bed, smoking and shaking your head Well there's nothing wrong with loving things that cannot even stand Well there goes your moony man With his suitcase in his hand Every road is lined with animals That rise from their blood and walk Well the moon won't get a wink of sleep If I stay all night and talk, if I stay all night and talk Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Ghosteen lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. Essentially this track has a series of moods, and I personally like the way the moods come together. I guess the track may be a little longer than it needs to be, but by the same token, the moods work well within the time frame, and the general focus one we have moved through the introduction is the lyrics. So I am going to give this one a pass.
Fireflies I really like the intro here. The tension builds nicely with the somewhat sound effect backing. We get Nick doing a straight recitation, and it works on that level. It has somewhat the feel of a poetry reading, and I think it works well on that level. Jesus lying in his mother's arms Is a photon released from a dying star We move through the forest at night The sky is full of momentary light And everything we need is just too far We are photons released from a dying star We are fireflies a child has trapped in a jar And everything is distant as the stars I am here and you are where you are We have lived a long time here in the forest We lie beneath the heaps of leaves We are partial to this partial light We cannot sleep and fear our dreams There is no order here, nothing can be planned We are fireflies trapped in a little boy's hand And everything is distant as the stars And I am here and you are where you are And we lie among our atoms and I speak to you of things And hope sometimes that maybe you will understand There is no order here and there is no middle ground Nothing can be predicted and nothing can be planned A star is just a memory of a star We are fireflies pulsing dimly in the dark We are here and you are where you are We are here and you are where you are Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Fireflies lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. This track works at the very least, as a nice way to break up the two long songs, but it is a nice reading, and works for me on that level.
Hollywood We rise into the synth swell, with a nice prominent bass guitar, and a mildly meandering piano. The bass pulses like a heartbeat, as the melody swells around it. Cave comes in on the vocal, with a very engaging close mic'd vocal. It has a sort of Higgs Boson Blues reflection going on... although obviously a very different song. Around the 4 minute we get another beautiful series of backing vocals. We move into a gently pulsating percussion track mixed fairly low so as to assist but not disturb the ambiance the track has built. The vocal becomes more intense, and Cave expresses himself beautifully and we get some very pronounced melody, and an impassioned vocal that really draws the attention. Those background vocals swell beautifully with the synths joining the party, and a subtle intensity keeps the interest up for me. We drop back to the bass holding court, and another intense piece of structure. Cave comes in with a surprisingly pretty falsetto. You can almost see his face straining as these vocals come out. This is an intense piece of work, that has the ability to induce a trance as the song moves along. Although certainly not directly about his song, this song certainly is an expression of the feelings of that ... there wasn't a house where no one had died. A sad reflection on the reality that tragedy touches us all. I think this is a brilliant closer to the album, and it somewhat solidifies the thrust of the album. The fires continued through the night The kid with a bat face appeared at the window, and disappeared into the headlights I was halfway to the pacific coast I had left you in your longing and your yearning like a ghost There's little room for wonder now, and little room for wildness too We crawl into our wounds I'm nearly all the way to Malibu I'm gonna buy me a house up in the hills With a tear-shaped pool and a gun that kills 'Cause they say there is a cougar that roams these parts With a terrible engine of wrath for a heart That she is white and rare and full of all kinds of harm And stalks the perimeter all day long But at night lays trembling in my arms And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come And I'm just waiting now, for my place in the sun And I'm just waiting now, for peace to come And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come And we hide in our wounds and I'm nearly all the way to Malibu And I know my time will come one day soon I'm waiting for peace to come And I'm nearly all the way to Malibu Oh babe we're on the run, we're on the run, we're on the run Halfway down the Pacific coast I left you sleeping like a ghost in your wounds Darling your dreams are your greatest part I carry them with me in my heart Darling your dreams are your greatest part I carry them with me in my heart Somewhere, don't know Now I'm standing on the shore All the animals roam the beaches Sea creatures rise out of the sea And I'm standing on the shore Everyone begins to run The kid drops his bucket and spade and climbs into the sun Kisa had a baby, but the baby died Goes to the villagers, says my baby's sick Villagers shake their heads and say to her Better bury your baby in the forest quick It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind Kisa went to the mountain and asked the Buddha My baby's sick, Buddha said don't cry Go to each house and collect a mustard seed But only from the house where no one died Kisa went to each house in the village My baby's getting sicker, poor Kisa cried But Kisa never collected one mustard seed In every house, someone had died Kisa sat down in the old village square She hugged her baby and cried and cried She said everybody is always losing somebody Then walked into the forest and buried her child Everybody's losing someone Everybody's losing someone It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind It's a long way to find peace of mind, peace of mind And I'm just waiting now, for my time to come And I'm just waiting now, for peace to come, for peace to come Songwriters: Nicholas Cave Hollywood lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
This is a very interesting album on so many levels. Having now had a chance to go through all the songs, I have a much better idea of what we have here. For me this isn't Cave or the bands best album, but it is much more engaging than it should be ... which may sound strange, but there certainly is a slight lack of diversity in terms of songs and structure. I do understand why some folks just don't like it, but I don't agree with the statements that there is no melody. I think this album has subtle layers, and the kind of album it is, isn't really the kind of album that I would listen to every day. It is certainly an album I will buy, and that isn't because it is Nick Cave, it is because it brings something else to the table, and although it may not be Lasagna with garlic bread, caesar salad and a nice red wine, it still has enough flavour and appeal to enjoy. One of the things about this album is seeing/hearing Cave's catharsis does have a somewhat therapeutic effect on the engaged listener, but as I say, I understand why some can't get engaged with this. For me this is definitely a worthwhile album, that due to its sustained ambiance and pain, is not going to appeal to everybody, but I will be getting the cd when it comes out.
"Hollywood" is devastating and hopeful and kind of sums up the human condition...the state we are all in........the song is an incredible work of art as it moves me so deeply.
I hope so,it was an amazing performance. Weird that it's still not available except for that 4 track EP.
Enjoying this cover record, you might dig too: CAMILLE SINGS CAVE LIVE, by CAMILLE O'SULLIVAN I really like the way her voice works with Cave's lyrics...especially when she screams!
The white hunter sits on his porch With his elephant gun and his tears He'll shoot you for free if you come around here A protester kneels on the neck of a statue The statue says "I can't breathe" The protester says "Now you know how it feels" And he kicks it into the sea I am a Botticelli Venus with a p enis Riding an enormous scalloped fan I'm a sea foam woman rising from the spray And I'm coming to do you harm With a gun in my pants full of elephant tears And a seahorse on each arm With my elephant gun of tears I'll shoot you all for free If you evеn think about coming round here I'll shoot you in the ****ing facе If you think of coming around here I'm an ice sculpture melting in the sun I'm an ice sculpture with an elephant gun I'm an ice sculpture made of elephant-sized tears Raining gas and salt upon your heads The president has called in the Feds I've been planning this for years I'll shoot you in the ****ing face If you think of coming around here I'll shoot you for just for fun I'm a statue lying on my side, in the sun With the memory of an elephant Evaporating before your eyes And becoming a great grey cloud of wrath Roaring my salt upon the earth I will shoot you all for free if you so much as look at me A time is coming A time is nigh For the kingdom In the sky Don't ask who Don't ask why There's a kingdom in the sky We're all coming home For a while A time is coming A time is nigh For the kingdom in the sky We're all coming home For a while A time is coming A time is nigh For the kingdom in the sky We're all coming home In a while