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.

Lucy
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics

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Last night I lay trembling
The moon it was low
It was the end of love
Of misery and woe

Then suddenly above me
Her face buried in light
Came a vision of beauty

All covered in white

Now the bell-tower is ringing
And the night has stole past
Oh Lucy, can you hear me?
Wherever you rest

I'll love her forever
I'll love her for all time
I'll love her 'til the stars
Fall down from the sky
Now the bell-tower is ringing
And I shake on the floor
Oh Lucy, can you hear me?
When I call and call

Now the bell-tower is ringing
And the moon it is high

Oh Lucy, can you hear me
When I cry and cry and cry

Overall Meaning

"Lucy" is a song by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds about lost love and the longing that comes with it. The opening lines set the tone with a sense of bleakness and finality - "Last night I lay trembling / The moon it was low / It was the end of love / Of misery and woe." The singer is overwhelmed by a sense of loss, and in that moment of desperation, something miraculous happens. He sees a "vision of beauty / All covered in white" - presumably, Lucy.

The symbolism of the bell-tower, which is mentioned repeatedly throughout the song, adds to its mystique. The singer seems to be calling out to Lucy from far away, hoping she can hear him over the ringing of the bells. As the song progresses, his emotions intensify - at first he's trembling on the ground, then he's calling out to her, and finally he's crying out in anguish. It's a poignant portrayal of heartbreak and the desperation to hold onto a lost love.

Overall, "Lucy" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is a haunting and evocative song that captures the essence of longing and loss. Its lyrics are poignant and symbolic, and the melody is hauntingly beautiful.

Line by Line Meaning

Last night I lay trembling
The evening before, I was scared and shaking

The moon it was low
The moon was positioned low in the sky

It was the end of love
My feeling of love was fading away

Of misery and woe
I was going through great sadness and suffering

Then suddenly above me
Unexpectedly, I saw something above me

Her face buried in light
I saw a face surrounded by bright light

Came a vision of beauty
It was a beautiful and breathtaking sight

All covered in white
The person was wearing all white clothes

Now the bell-tower is ringing
The bell in the tower is making a sound

And the night has stole past
The night has passed quickly

Oh Lucy, can you hear me?
I am calling out to Lucy, hoping she can hear me

Wherever you rest
I am addressing Lucy in the place where she is resting

I'll love her forever
I will keep loving her for eternity

I'll love her for all time
My love for her will last throughout time

I'll love her 'til the stars
My love for her will last until the stars in the sky disappear

Fall down from the sky
The stars will be falling from the sky at that point

And I shake on the floor
I am trembling on the ground

When I call and call
I am continuously calling out

And the moon it is high
The moon has risen high in the sky

When I cry and cry and cry
I am weeping and sobbing for Lucy

Lyrics © Freibank Musikverlags und vermarktungs GmbH, BMG Rights Management, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Blixa Bargeld, Nicholas Cave, Roland Wolf

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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