I’m in my kitchen on Magnetic Island making fish wontons with Wild God on repeat. I love the song and the line that catches my attention each time is ‘wild God searching for what all wild Gods are searching for.’ What are all wild Gods searching for?
MADONNA @ Issue no. 279My grandfather, my hero, passed away several weeks ago. He was an incredible man: a chemist; a cowboy; a man of God. After flying back from the funeral in Kansas, it seems that every song / piece of music I write naturally and quite invariably floats back to him. It is a beautiful but hard thing. I feel lost and confused regarding the songs that are pouring out. Writing these songs/poems makes me feel so much closer to him, and I want to share them, but I have this rising fear that sharing them would cheapen or commodify his memory, our relationship. I don’t want to diminish him. I’ve always admired artists who have dealt with grief through their music, but now that I’m living it, I’m realizing how brave one must be to do so. One of the last things he said to me was “Apply the music!” but I am finding it hard to do so. What do I do with these songs?
TOMMY @ Issue no. 261I work in the music industry and there is a lot of excitement around ChatGPT. I was talking to a songwriter in a band that was using ChatGPT to write his lyrics, because it was so much ‘faster and easier.’ I couldn’t really argue against that. I know you’ve talked about ChatGPT before, but what’s wrong with making things faster and easier?
LEON @ Issue no. 248I’m listening to you on Louis Theroux podcast right now and I have to confess, whilst I know the name Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, I’ve not taken the time to listen to your catalogue. I’ve always felt somewhat pedestrian in my music choices, falling into listening patterns from my youthful dance floor days (late 80s & early 90s). I’m keen to expand my playlist so if I wanted to delve into your back catalogue, can you recommend a chronological list of songs to help me get started?
AOTEAROA @ Issue no. 243Spent all day down a rabbit hole with your songs after hearing an interview with Louis Theroux on Spotify. I am completely confused by your music. Can you help me? What should I listen to?
ADRIAN @ Issue no. 243My oldest child just turned 19. When they were born, she was called Maisie. They are now calling themself Claude and using male pronouns. I struggle with it out of habit. I understand intellectually, but something has me resist calling the person who was once my daughter “him”. And as for Claude, well – I just don’t like the sound of it. I use nicknames. I work around pronouns. It is complicated. They have told me that it is like armor – a mask that makes them stronger in public – that they are a proud woman but feel more comfortable as “he”. with the state of traditional gender roles, it makes sense that this generation would rebel against them the same way that we rejected all manner of norms and mores. but this is not the point. The point is that I have introduced my child to your work, and it has become a topic that we bond over. It started with Curse of Millhaven (which she began illustrating) and progressed. She texted me from the city bus today to tell me that Jubilee Street came on her playlist during her ride today, and she wept. I received a text shortly after that which read “O Children” is on now – I think it is my third favorite. To be fair, I really dismissed Lyre of Orpheus. I have mentioned why before. I couldn’t afford to buy records, I took it out of the library, it wasn’t where I was at, etc.. But my kid loved it, so I put the song on. And I wept. I had actual goosebumps. That my child loves that song is beautiful. And that I can say to my child – this is something that I deeply understand as a parent and as a child – is something that I am so grateful for. I was going to bother you to play all manner of old songs that I like when you play here in fall. Things that you will probably not play that I will feel clever for requesting. A Box For Black Paul. Knocking on Joe. Good piano songs. But instead, I will ask you to please play “O Children” in Minnesota, and if you think of it, please say that it is for Claude.
Damon @ Issue no. 239I just heard that Andy Rourke, the bassist of the Smiths, has died. I’m not sure why I’m mentioning this to you… it just makes me sad. I don’t really have anyone else to mention it to. I love the Smiths. I find it profoundly amazing how many lives music can touch—how many personal experiences and memories are created through it. I’m not sure I’m putting that into words right. It makes me think, did he know that years after his band’s prime, people like me would still be so immensely affected by the songs he helped create? To really listen—and I mean really listen, to be absorbed by the senses—is quite the experience, and every instrument and part played is integral to that experience, helping to heighten and elevate it. Andy will be missed. I have no idea how terrible his family and friends must feel. I do, however, know the experience of a listener, and I hope that he knows, wherever he is, that his music will continue out past him and continue to help people both cope with—and more vibrantly experience—this very strange thing that we call life. I suppose I’m partially sending this to you as a way to thank you for your music, as well, and I wish that I could thank everyone else who has made music that I enjoy. I feel like enjoy isn’t the right word… it merely serves as shorthand. Something a little more like “affected me profoundly throughout pivotal periods of my life” might be more accurate. I hope you understand. Thank you, Nick Cave, and thank you, Andy Rourke.
A.S.Y @ Issue no. 237Many years ago I remember watching a short Channel 4 film where you described the impact of We Are All Prostitutes by The Pop Group. I listened and then obviously fell in love with Mark’s work and was lucky to see him a few times including his slot at Meltdown. With the sad news of his passing do you have any memories you can share of discovering his music or knowing him?
MARK @ Issue no. 233I recently learned that there is a sitting Supreme Court Justice, here in the United States, who is a fan of a musician I love. This musician has passed. The Justice, in my opinion, is dangerous to this country, and holds views I abhor. I firmly believe, through public knowledge of this artist, that he was not supportive of this Justice either. I feel like this man, whom I loathe, is singing along and dancing to music that wasn’t created for him. Funnily enough, it feels like a real injustice. [ ] Do you believe your music is created for everyone? Are you OK with the idea that people you might genuinely see as despicable, are fans of yours? How do you feel about the fact that they listen to the words and music you work so hard on, that you put all of your soul into, and claim a personal ownership of it? Does it feel like a betrayal of the art you toiled over? [ ] Thanks so much for the music.
JUSTIN @ Issue no. 209Dear Mr Cave, Do you ever suffer from self-doubt? A girl was falling in love with me, and while she courted me, she shared a part of herself which was you. I had never heard your music before, and it struck me that you were like me – you and I were born within a 100km radius of one another. The young girl who loved me shared with me friendship, forgiveness, and a figure of alien greatness who at one time came from some place around here. I now have two young sons Max and Joey. They enjoy listening to your music, they dance around the living room. Joey is an emotional lightning rod who feels the world more intensely than anyone I have ever met. Little Max cannot speak yet, but he sings, and when he smiles you can see clear through into his soul. One day when they are old enough to really understand, I will tell them that you came from here. I will tell them that they can aspire to be more than a person from a place, and maybe they will not end up like their father.
THOMAS @ Issue no. 143I want to do music and I love it so much. It means everything to me but I worry that I don’t have any talent. How important is talent?
STELLA @ Issue no. 138I want to thank you for releasing Live at Alexandria Palace and especially for playing those Boatman’s Call songs. I listened to that record repeatedly as a lonely, bullied and suicidal 12-year-old girl and I think I took it as some kind of a fantasy of love and all the sweet, horrible pain and adventure it would bring. I remember around that time watching an interview where you said you felt somewhat ‘disgusted’ by certain elements of that record. I could not possibly understand what you meant by it back then. Now, 20 years later, I have experienced love, pain and adventure. Listening to your Alexandria Palace versions of those songs, they are not a fantasy to me anymore. They are as real as I am in my attempts at living. What were you disgusted by back then? What do those songs mean to you now and what made you revisit them? I wish you could have seen me as a 12-year-old trying to figure out what ‘an interventionist God’ means. Thank you for bringing so much light into my life.
ELINA @ Issue no. 132Hey first I wanna say really like your music i have lost my beautiful wife in cancer and my dear brother in covid 19 my question to you is how keep you going on after lost your son its hard sometimes to keep going on with life.
MATTI @ Issue no. 126I love your music and its ability to relate common suffering, as you have discussed in the past. Do you ever look back at your anthology and wish you had been more overtly politically outspoken – referring to activism rather than politics per se – in your art?
JP @ Issue no. 102I recently read that the band Rising Signs believed ‘Palaces of Montezuma’ plagiarized their 2005 song, ‘Grey Man.’ Sure, I can hear similarities in melody, but, oddly, I think one of many reasons I love ‘Palaces’ is that it reminds me, if anything, of the intro to ‘Theme From Mad Flies, Mad Flies’ by The Laughing Clowns from 1982. I’m not sure what that says about Rising Signs, but it made me wonder – [ ] Is originality in music sometimes hard to obtain?
ELSE @ Issue no. 94Please tell us everything you can about the song ‘Hollywood’. It’s one of the most powerful pieces of music I’ve ever heard, and I want to know everything you can tell me.
JON @ Issue no. 78Why did you give up on your relationship with PJ Harvey in the 90s? I love her music. I think she’s an amazing person and she writes brilliant songs.
RAMON @ Issue no. 57I had a real hard time with your music, my boyfriend was a fan, until The Boatman’s Call. This record really spoke to me. Can you explain?
TANYA @ Issue no. 57Do you ever get tired of all the pretentious fat lesbians who enjoy your music? Personally I enjoy a lot of your music, but I find most of your fans insufferable. I’m just wondering if you’re on the same page.
GEORGE @ Issue no. 52Dear Nick, I was at your In Conversation event in Antwerp. There was a man with a light and a microphone, but suddenly he was gone. I just wanted to tell you something. I didn’t want to tell you and all the other people the full story that evening, just a bit, but I want to tell it to you now. My partner died in 2014: traffic. At that moment I was actually pregnant by him, but nobody knew. It was still a little early and I was pregnant after fertility-treatment. He died and five days after his death, I lost his child. Our child. He was a huge fan of your music and I think I became a fan of your music because of him. ‘Into My Arms’ became our song. The song was playing and he asked me to dance and so it became our song. Nothing special, but for us it was a special song. I wanted to play it at his funeral. People asked me afterwards if I thought it was a love song or a song of loss. A song of love, I thought. It was a silly question – but the man I love was there in a coffin and I just wanted to hear that song on the day he was buried, because it was our song, the song of our love for each other and I loved that man and I still love him. Nothing more, nothing less, that was the reason I wanted it played at his funeral. We had already bought tickets for a Bad Seeds concert together. He was dead, so because of that my best friend went with me. You played ‘Into My Arms’ and I started to cry, not because of the sadness, but because of the beauty of it. I was standing there and for the first time since he passed away, I felt my partner standing by my side. Maybe it sounds stupid, but I really felt him standing by my side. My best friend cuddled me and gave me a kiss on my forehead. She cuddled me in a strong way. I was really crying, smiling too and I felt love everywhere, for and from my partner and for and from my best friend too. I went into a kind of trance of love, it was an amazing experience, that’s for sure, and it was when you were playing that song. I’m crying now, because I feel that same feeling. I still think it was wonderful. It was 2015, those days. My best friend died in 2016: cancer. ‘Into My Arms’ is not just the song for me and my partner anymore, it is the song for and from my best friend and all the people I love, but those two people are standing for true love for me too, so it became a song of true love, true love I actually feel when you play that song. Since they died, I like to be at any of your concerts, because of the amazing beauty I feel when you play ‘Into My Arms’. I feel Guido and Amber beside me. And all I wanted to ask was if you would play that song, so I could feel them again beside me that evening. The man with the light and the microphone was suddenly gone, but you played ‘Into My Arms’ anyway. I was very grateful that you played it. Now I just want to say “thanks”, for that song, for all of your songs, for such a wonderful evening, because it was with love.
ELS @ Issue no. 45I was first introduced to you by my stepfather in the early 80s. I was around 8 years old. I would later find much solace during a difficult time in The Boatman’s Call. Now I have 3 young boys and I find it to be the one thing that fills me with both fear and hope. I have an aching about the future world they are coming into. It confuses me – the darkness seems overwhelming.
NICK @ Issue no. 38I am 10 and have been surrounded by and listened to your music as long as I can remember. I saw you in Hobart in January 2017 and I’ll be there again to see you in January 2019. None of my friends listen to anything cool, interesting or beautiful. How will having your music in my life so early on affect me, and have you got any advice for me? Thank you.
PTOLEMY @ Issue no. 26What would be a list of 10 of your most favourite pieces of music, by artists other than yourself? And number 11 must be a Gun Club song.
G @ Issue no. 16I used to play Into My Arms for my girlfriend. I came to your concert in Birmingham, but I had to leave early. It was far too emotional for me and reminded me of the amazing times I had with my girlfriend, which I know I will never get back.
STELLAN @ Issue no. 306