Nicholas Edward Cave AO (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, s… Read Full Bio ↴Nicholas Edward Cave AO (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor, best known for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Cave's music is generally characterized by his baritone voice, emotional intensity, a wide variety of influences and lyrical obsessions with death, religion, love and violence.

Born and raised in rural Victoria, Cave studied art before fronting The Birthday Party, one of Melbourne's leading post-punk bands, in the late 1970s. They relocated to London in 1980, but, disillusioned by life there, evolved towards a darker, more challenging sound, and acquired a reputation as "the most violent live band in the world". At this time, Cave, with his shock of black hair and pale, emaciated look, became an unwilling gothic rock poster boy. Soon after the band's break-up in 1983, Cave formed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Much of the band's early material was set in a mythic American Deep South, drawing on spirituals and Delta blues, while Cave's preoccupation with Old Testament notions of good versus evil culminated in what has been called his signature song, "The Mercy Seat" (1988). The 1990s saw Cave achieve greater commercial success with quieter, piano-driven ballads, notably the Kylie Minogue duet "Where the Wild Roses Grow" (1996), and "Into My Arms" (1997). More recent releases, including the band's 17th and latest LP, Ghosteen (2019), feature increasingly abstract lyrics from Cave, as well as elements of ambient and electronic music. Grinderman, Cave's garage rock side project, has released two albums since 2006.

Cave co-wrote, scored and starred in the 1988 Australian prison film Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988), directed by John Hillcoat. He also wrote the screenplay for Hillcoat's bushranger film The Proposition (2005), and composed the soundtrack with frequent collaborator Warren Ellis. The pair's film score credits include The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), The Road (2009), Lawless (2012), and Hell or High Water (2016). Cave is the subject of several films, including the semi-fictional "day in the life" 20,000 Days on Earth (2014), and the documentary One More Time with Feeling (2016). Cave has also released two novels: And the Ass Saw the Angel (1989) and The Death of Bunny Munro (2009).

Cave's work has become the subject of academic study, and his songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, including Johnny Cash ("The Mercy Seat"), Metallica ("Loverman") and Snoop Dogg ("Red Right Hand"). He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2007, and named an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017.

Blue Bird
Nick Cave Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I got a blue bird
A blue bird on my shoulder
I got a blue bird
A blue bird on my shoulder

I saw her standing
Standing by the water
She was naked

Her hair in great disorder

And I know why I'm flying
And the rest is lies

I sent a warning
A warning of disaster
I sent a warning
I warned of great disaster

I sent that blue bird
That blue bird down the water
I sent that blue bird
Floating down the water

And I know that I'm flying
And the rest is lies

And I know that I'm flying

And the rest is lies
[Incomprehensible]

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Blue Bird" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds seem to tell the story of the singer's encounter with a blue bird that perches on his shoulder. The blue bird, in this instance, serves as a symbol of freedom, with the singer's flight enabled by the bird's guidance. The lyrics suggest that the singer has seen a woman standing by the water in a state of undress, with her hair in great disorder. This detail creates an image of chaos and vulnerability. It is not entirely clear how this image connects with the theme of the blue bird, but the suggestion might be that freedom comes from embracing vulnerability and chaos.

The following verse suggests that the singer has attempted to prevent some kind of disaster by sending the bird down the water. Again, it is not entirely clear what is meant by this action, but it seems to be an ambiguous and somewhat ominous gesture. The final two repetitions of "And I know that I'm flying / And the rest is lies" suggest that the singer has fully embraced this sense of freedom and is committed to living in the moment, unencumbered by the past or the future.

Line by Line Meaning

I got a blue bird
I have a sense of optimism.

A blue bird on my shoulder
This hopefulness is always with me.

I saw her standing
I witnessed a vision.

Standing by the water
This image was near water.

She was naked
The vision was raw and unfiltered.

Her hair in great disorder
The rawness of the image extended to its details.

And I know why I'm flying
I understand the reason behind the positivity I feel.

And the rest is lies
The negativity that surrounds me is untruthful.

I sent a warning
I tried to prevent something bad from happening.

A warning of disaster
I knew that the outcome of the situation would be disastrous.

I sent that blue bird
My optimism was present even when trying to avert the disaster.