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.
Helpless
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
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And I take comfort from memories there
And in my mind I still need a place to go
All my best changes were there
Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Leave us helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby, heal me now
The chains are locked and tied across the door
They seem to help me somehow
The song "Helpless" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is a hauntingly beautiful and melancholic tribute to the memories and nostalgia of a town in North Ontario. The singer takes comfort from his memories of this place which he still needs to go to in his mind. But even amidst the fond recollections, there is a sense of helplessness and vulnerability that pervades the lyrics. The blue windows behind the stars and the yellow moon on the rise underscore the wistful longing of the singer, while the big birds flying across the sky throw shadows on the eyes of the people watching them, making them feel helpless. The repeated refrain of "helpless, helpless, helpless" and the plea to "heal me now" are an expression of the singer's vulnerability and a desperate need for comfort and solace.
In many ways, "Helpless" is a song about the human condition and the sense of powerlessness that we all experience at some point in our lives. The chains locked and tied across the door serve as a metaphor for the feelings of confinement and limitation that we often encounter, but they also seem to help the singer somehow, perhaps by providing a sense of structure and order amidst the chaos of life. Ultimately, the song is a tribute to the power of memory and the ways in which it can provide solace and comfort in times of need.
Line by Line Meaning
There is a town in north Ontario
The singer recalls a particular town located in northern Ontario.
And I take comfort from memories there
The singer feels emotionally safe when thinking back to their memories of the town.
And in my mind I still need a place to go
The singer feels a need to return to the town, even if it is just in their imagination.
All my best changes were there
The artist feels they underwent positive transformative experiences in the town.
Blue, blue windows behind the stars
The stars in the sky are symbolic of windows, appearing almost as if they were behind them.
Yellow moon on the rise
As the song was written in the past, the line references the moon rising in the sky at that particular moment.
Big birds flying across the sky
Birds soar high in the sky, and their flight patterns appear majestic to the singer.
Throwing shadows on our eyes
The birds' flight movements cast shadows that obscure the view in front of the artist.
Leave us helpless, helpless, helpless, helpless
The birds' shadows and spectacle leave the artist feeling overpowered and powerless.
Baby, heal me now
The artist seeks someone's affection to cater for their inner pain.
The chains are locked and tied across the door
The singer feels trapped and unable to free themselves.
They seem to help me somehow
Despite the artist feeling trapped, there is comfort in the familiarity of their surroundings and helplessness.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Neil Young
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mgillies63
All my best changes were there.
@mgillies63
Bonny Billy, van the man, l Cohen, s McGowan, n young, n cave,