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.
Anthrocene
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force that shifts at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene
All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene
Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene
Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now
Well, I heard you been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little worm
And brace yourself
The lyrics to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ song Anthrocene are a reflection on the impact of humans on the natural world. The first stanza describes a scene where the world is “so much older” and the animals are seeking refuge from the darkness of the night. The second stanza speaks of the inevitability of loss in life, that “all the things we love, we love, we love, we lose”. The third stanza is a call to take care of the environment, describing the wonders of nature such as the sea, animals, and sky. The chorus acknowledges the power of human influence in the present state of the world, and that it is “hard to believe” that we are capable of causing such destruction. The final stanza is a plea to take responsibility for our actions, and to recognize that we have a role to play in preserving the planet before it is too late.
Line by Line Meaning
All the fine winds gone
All the gentle breezes have vanished
And this sweet world is so much older
This lovely planet is much more ancient now
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Creatures envelop themselves in darkness for warmth
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Blossoms wilt and droop to the ground
Here I come now, here I come
I have arrived, I am present
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
I understand you have been searching for affection
The dark force that shifts at the edge of the tree
The menacing energy that lurks around the trunk
It's alright, it's alright
Everything is okay, everything is okay
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
When you twirl so gracefully, it's unbelievable
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene
That we're tumbling downwards in the era of human dominance
All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
Everything we adore, we cherish, we forfeit
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
It's our physical being that collapses when we strive to ascend
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Come sit next to me and I'll identify what it is
Behold, behold
Observe, observe
The heaven bound sea
The ocean that rises to the heavens
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
The breeze creates shadows as it passes by the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
Contemplate all the creatures and the limitless sky
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
I hear you've been seeking something to ignite
The head bow children fall to their knees
Kids who bow their heads fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene
Submissive in the epoch of human supremacy
Here they come now, here they come
They're approaching us now, they're approaching us now
Are pulling you away
Are dragging you further
There are powers at play more forceful than we
There are forces in action more potent than us
Come over here and sit down and say a short prayer
Come here and sit beside me, say a brief supplication
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
A supplication for the air, the vital air that we inhale
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene
And the phenomenal ascent of human domination
Come on now, come on now
Let's go, let's go
Hold your breath while you're safe
Stop breathing as you're in a protected environment
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
It's a lengthy journey back, and I implore you
To come home now, come home now
To return home now, to come back to where you belong
Well, I heard you been out looking for something to love
I heard you have been hunting for someone or something to adore
Close your eyes, little worm
Shut your eyes, small creature
And brace yourself
And prepare yourself
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: NICHOLAS CAVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MrDanbloom
All the fine winds gone
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say [?] prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now
@johnarundell7951
The wind casts a shadow when it moves through the trees
The head-bowed children fall to their knees
Come over here and sit down, and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, to the air that we breathe
Well I heard you've been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little worm, and brace yourself
@MrDanbloom
Cassandra Silver wrote: ''It's wonderful--Thank you for pointing it out. With his permission, I hope I will be able to use it.
My solipsistic grief about living in the Anthropocene has found a word itself: solastalgia
'In 2003 the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht coined the term solastalgia to mean a “form of psychic or existential distress caused by environmental change”'. Robert Macfarlane
"The movements of most of the people who live in cities have lost their connexion with the earth; they hang, as it were, in the air, hover in all directions, and find no place where they can settle."
Rainer Maria Rilke
(Also, back in 2011, a sad prophecy: "In articles for Yale Environment 360, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert reported on a study that found that the pace of global warming is outstripping projections, and on the possibility that scientists will designate a new geological epoch to reflect the changes that humans have caused.")
[This is not so much self-advertising---as that the whole purpose of it is--my having found so many illuminating things said brilliantly by the most perceptive people on this most important subject]
@erlineandrews
The instruments sound like they're talking mournfully in their own language.
@geengenee
best song on the album, pure art and passion
@lilninja1990
I hope in 400 years time, people will look at Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds the same way we look at Shakespeare today.
@jemimallah
good luck on us having those 400 years, buddy
@jessetafeltennis
If we go by the lyrics of this song, we won't hit those 400 years mate
@agstinacueva1673
@@jessetafeltennis we don't need to outlive art, it outlives us
@dislajk
Such a masterpiece.. I was blown away on first listening and still i am.. I mean these loops, these strings or pads i dont know how they produce this sounds. Amazing.. Usually when bands get older they start to suck, but these people are just getting better and better.. True artists..
@stephenleeize
Incredible poetry. Astonishing.
@MrDanbloom
All the fine winds gone
And this sweet world is so much older
Animals pull the night around their shoulders
Flowers fall to their naked knees
Here I come now, here I come
I hear you been out there looking for something to love
The dark force at the edge of the tree
It's alright, it's alright
When you turn so long and lovely, it's hard to believe
That we're falling now in the name of the Anthrocene All the things we love, we love, we love, we lose
It's our bodies that fall when they try to rise
And I hear you been looking out for something to love
Sit down beside me and I'll name it for you
Behold, behold
The heaven bound sea
The wind cast its shadow and moves for the tree
Behold the animals and the birds and the sky entire
I hear you been out there looking for something to set on fire
The head bow children fall to their knees
Humbled in the age of the Anthrocene Here they come now, here they come
Are pulling you away
There are powers at play more forceful than we
Come over here and sit down and say [?] prayer
A prayer to the air, the air that we breathe
And the astonishing rise of the Anthrocene Come on now, come on now
Hold your breath while you're safe
It's a long way back and I'm begging you please
To come home now, come home now
@johnarundell7951
The wind casts a shadow when it moves through the trees
The head-bowed children fall to their knees
Come over here and sit down, and say a short prayer
A prayer to the air, to the air that we breathe
Well I heard you've been out looking for something to love
Close your eyes, little worm, and brace yourself