The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey (all from Australia), guitarist George Vjestica (United Kingdom), keyboardist/percussionist Toby Dammit (United States) and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos (United States). The band has released sixteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours, and has been considered "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward".
The band was founded in 1983 following the demise of Cave and Harvey's former group the Birthday Party, the members of which met at a boarding school in Victoria. By the release of their fifth studio album Tender Prey in 1988, they shifted from post-punk towards an experimental alternative rock sound, later incorporating various influences throughout their career. For example, the 2008 album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! and the side-project Grinderman were strongly influenced by garage rock. Synthesizers and minimal guitar work feature prominently on Push the Sky Away (2013), recorded after Harvey's departure from the band in 2009.
The project that would later evolve into Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds began following the demise of The Birthday Party in August 1983. Both Cave and Harvey were members of the Birthday Party, along with guitarist Rowland S. Howard and bassist Tracy Pew. During the recording sessions of the Birthday Party's scheduled EPs Mutiny/The Bad Seed, internal disputes developed in the band. The difference in Cave and Howard's approach to songwriting was a major factor, as Cave explained in an interview with On The Street: "the main reason why The Birthday Party broke up was that the sort of songs that I was writing and the sort of songs that Rowland was writing were just totally at odds with each other." Following the departure of Harvey, they officially disbanded. Cave also said that "it probably would have gone on longer, but Mick has the ability to judge things much more clearly than the rest of us."[8]
Cave and guitarist Kid Congo Powers during the band's 1986 tour.
An embryonic version of what would later become Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was formed in the Birthday Party's then-home of London in September 1983, with Cave, Harvey (acting primarily as drummer), Einstürzende Neubauten guitarist Bargeld, Magazine bassist Barry Adamson, and Jim G. Thirlwell. The band was initially formed as a backing band for Cave's intended solo project Man Or Myth?, which had been approved by the record label Mute Records. During September and October 1983, they recorded material with producer Flood,[9] although the sessions were cut short due to Cave's touring with the Immaculate Consumptive, another project formed with Thirlwell, Lydia Lunch and Marc Almond.[10] In December 1983 Cave returned to Melbourne, Australia, where he formed a temporary line-up of his backing band, due to Bargeld's absence, that included Pew and guitarist Hugo Race. The band performed their first live show at Seaview in St. Kilda on 31 December 1983.
Following a short Australian tour, and during a period when they were without management, Cave and his band returned to London. Cave, Harvey, Bargeld, Race and Adamson formed the project's first consistent line-up, while Cave's longtime girlfriend Anita Lane was credited as a lyricist on the band's debut album.[citation needed] The group, which up to this time had been nameless, adopted the moniker Nick Cave and the Cavemen, which they used for the first six months of their career. However, they were later renamed Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in May 1984, in reference to the final Birthday Party EP The Bad Seed.[citation needed] They began recording sessions for their debut album in March 1984 at London's Trident Studios and these sessions, together with the abandoned Man Or Myth? sessions from September–October 1983 that were recorded at The Garden studios, formed the album From Her to Eternity, released on Mute Records in 1984.
Abattoir Blues
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Drifting down into the abattoir
Do you see what I see, dear?
The air grows heavy
I listen to your breath
Entwined together in this culture of death
Do you see what I see, dear?
To avert this unholy evolutionary trajectory
Can you hear what I hear, babe?
Does it make you feel afraid?
Everything's dissolving, babe, according to plan (oh yeah)
The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land (oh yeah)
I went to bed last night and my moral code got jammed (oh yeah)
I woke up this morning with a frappucino in my hand (oh yeah)
I kissed you once
I kissed you again
My heart it tumbled like the stock exchange
Do you feel what I feel, dear?
Mass extinction, darling, hypocrisy
These things are not good for me
Do you see what I see, dear?
The line the God throws down to you and me
Makes a pleasing geometry
Shall we leave this place now, dear?
Is there some way out of here?
I wake with the sparrows and I hurry off to work (oh yeah)
The need for validation, babe, gone completely berserk (oh yeah)
I wanted to be your Superman but I turned out such a jerk
I got the abattoir blues
I got the abattoir blues
I got the abattoir blues
Right down to my shoes (abbatoir blues)
Down to my shoes (abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
(Abbatoir blues)
The lyrics of "Abattoir Blues" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a profound reflection on the state of the world today. The song starts with the image of the sun shining high in the sky as the singer is driving down into the abattoir. The word "abattoir" refers to a slaughterhouse, and this sets the tone of the song as one of death and destruction. The singer then asks his companion if they can see what he sees, as the air grows heavy and they're both entwined in a culture of death.
The second stanza introduces the idea of trying to avert an "unholy evolutionary trajectory" by giving his companion a squeeze. The singer asks his companion if they can hear what he hears, and questions whether it makes them feel afraid. The following stanzas build on the theme of destruction, with the sky on fire and the dead heaped across the land. The singer describes how he woke up with a frappucino in his hand, suggesting that he's somewhat detached from reality and the horrors around him.
The final stanza brings the focus back to the singer's personal life, and how he feels like a jerk for wanting to be someone's Superman but turning out to be a disappointment. He repeats the line "I got the abattoir blues" several times, suggesting that he's feeling overwhelmed by the prevailing sense of death and destruction. Overall, the song is a powerful commentary on the state of the world today, and the sense of hopelessness and despair that can come from bearing witness to the destruction around us.
Line by Line Meaning
The sun is high up in the sky and I'm in my car
I am in my car during the daytime.
Drifting down into the abattoir
Going towards the slaughterhouse.
Do you see what I see, dear?
Are you seeing the same thing as me?
The air grows heavy
The atmosphere is becoming tense and ominous.
I listen to your breath
I can hear you breathing.
Entwined together in this culture of death
We are caught up in a society that values death.
Slide on over here, let me give you a squeeze
Come closer and let me hold you tight.
To avert this unholy evolutionary trajectory
To avoid a disastrous course of events.
Can you hear what I hear, babe?
Are you hearing the same thing as I am, my dear?
Does it make you feel afraid?
Are you scared by it?
Everything's dissolving, babe, according to plan (oh yeah)
Everything is breaking down, following a pre-determined course of events.
The sky is on fire, the dead are heaped across the land (oh yeah)
The environment is in chaos, with widespread destruction and death.
I went to bed last night and my moral code got jammed (oh yeah)
My ethical standards got confused and stuck in my head last night.
I woke up this morning with a frappucino in my hand (oh yeah)
I began this morning with a coffee drink.
I kissed you once
We shared a kiss.
I kissed you again
We kissed repeatedly.
My heart it tumbled like the stock exchange
My emotions fluctuated like the stock market.
Do you feel what I feel, dear?
Do you share the same emotions as I?
Mass extinction, darling, hypocrisy
The extinction of many species and human hypocrisy are both problematic.
These things are not good for me
These negative things are not beneficial for me.
Do you see what I see, dear?
Are you seeing the same thing as me?
The line the God throws down to you and me
The message from a higher power for us to follow.
Makes a pleasing geometry
Has an appealing structure.
Shall we leave this place now, dear?
Should we depart from this location?
Is there some way out of here?
Can we find a way to escape?
I wake with the sparrows and I hurry off to work (oh yeah)
I wake up early and go to work.
The need for validation, babe, gone completely berserk (oh yeah)
The desire for approval has become uncontrollably overwhelming.
I wanted to be your Superman but I turned out such a jerk
I aimed to be your heroic figure, but instead became a fool.
I got the abattoir blues
I have the feeling of despair and dread like I am in a slaughterhouse.
Right down to my shoes (abbatoir blues)
The feeling is deeply rooted within me and affects me entirely.
Down to my shoes (abbatoir blues)
The feeling is deeply rooted within me and affects me entirely.
(Abbatoir blues)
The feeling of despair and unease.
(Abbatoir blues)
The feeling of despair and unease.
(Abbatoir blues)
The feeling of despair and unease.
(Abbatoir blues)
The feeling of despair and unease.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Nicholas Cave, Warren Ellis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind