Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is an Australian post-punk band formed in Melbo… Read Full Bio ↴Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is an Australian post-punk band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist Blixa Bargeld.

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.

Let the Bells Ring
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics

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C'mon, kind sir, let's walk outside
And breathe the autumn air
See the many that have lived and died
See the unending golden stair
See all of us that have come behind
Clutching at your hem
All the way from Arkansas
To your sweet and last amen

Let the bells ring
He is the real thing
Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing

Take this deafening thunder down
Take this bread and take this wine
Your passing is not what we mourn
But the world you left behind
Well, do not breathe, nor make a sound
And behold your mighty work
That towers over the uncaring ground
Of a lesser, darker world

Let the bells ring
He is the real thing
Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing

There are those of us not fit to tie
The laces of your shoes
Must remain behind to testify
What an elementary blues
So, let's walk outside, the hour is late
Through your crumbs and scattered shells
Where the awed and the mediocre wait
You're barely fit to ring the bells

Let the bells ring
He is the real thing

Let the bells ring
He is the real, real thing

Overall Meaning

The song "Let The Bells Ring" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is a melancholic homage to a great artist or writer, who is no longer with us. The song narrates a gathering of people coming together to celebrate the work and life of this person. The opening lines "C'mon, kind sir, let's walk outside / And breathe the autumn air" paints a picture of a group of mourners who have come together to celebrate the life of this iconic figure who can be seen as the staircase leading to the heavens above. The song talks about how the person's work still resonates and towers over the present world.

The chorus of the song "Let the bells ring / He is the real thing / Let the bells ring / He is the real, real thing" suggests that the artist/writer in question was authentic in their craft and their work was of the highest quality. The song also touches on the idea that not everyone is fit to understand or appreciate the greatness of the person being celebrated, as mentioned in the lines "There are those of us not fit to tie / The laces of your shoes / Must remain behind to testify / What an elementary blues."

Overall, "Let The Bells Ring" is a beautifully written tribute to an unknown artist, who has left a significant impact on the world through their work.

Line by Line Meaning

C'mon, kind sir, let's walk outside
Come outside with me, fellow gentleman

And breathe the autumn air
Inhale the crisp fall atmosphere

See the many that have lived and died
Observe the countless souls that have passed

See the unending golden stair
Notice the perpetual steps to another world

See all of us that have come behind
Witness everyone who has followed in your footsteps

Clutching at your hem
Grasping onto your garment in reverence

All the way from Arkansas
Traveling far and wide to be near you

To your sweet and last amen
To your final and peaceful farewell

Let the bells ring
Ring the bells in celebration

He is the real thing
He is genuine and authentic

Take this deafening thunder down
Silence the noise that surrounds us