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.
People Ain't No Good
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I think that's well understood
You can see it everywhere you look
People just ain't no good
We were married under cherry trees
Under blossom we made our vows
All the blossoms come sailing down
The sun would stream on the sheets
Awoken by the morning bird
We'd buy the Sunday newspapers
And never read a single word
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
Seasons came, seasons went
The winter stripped the blossoms bare
A different tree now lines the streets
Shaking its fists in the air
The winter slammed us like a fist
The windows rattling in the gales
To which she drew the curtains
Made out of her wedding veils
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all
To our love send a dozen white lilies
To our love send a coffin of wood
To our love let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo
That people they just ain't no good
To our love send back all the letters
To our love a valentine of blood
To our love let all the jilted lovers cry
That people they just ain't no good
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you're ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They'd stick by you if they could
But that's just bullshit baby
People just ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all
The lyrics to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds's song People Ain't No Good are a bleak reflection on human nature. The singer declares right from the start that people are not good, and this sentiment is echoed throughout the song. The verses describe a marriage that begins in love, but is eventually destroyed by the changing seasons and the harsh reality of life. Despite this, the singer recognizes that people are not necessarily intentionally bad. They can be kind and caring, but ultimately cannot be relied upon. In the end, the song suggests that love is futile and that people are ultimately incapable of making it work.
The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song by stating upfront that people "just ain't no good". The second verse paints a nostalgic picture of a blissful marriage under the cherry blossoms, but rapidly deteriorates as the seasons change and the marriage falls apart. The third verse repeats the theme of people's unreliability and introduces the idea that sending white lilies or a coffin of wood would be equally fitting tributes to a lost love. The final verse acknowledges that people may have kind hearts, but ultimately cannot be counted on.
Line by Line Meaning
People just ain't no good
People in general are not good.
I think that's well understood
This is a widely recognized problem.
You can see it everywhere you look
This is a problem that is visible and pervasive.
People they ain't no good
This assertion is repeated for emphasis.
We were married under cherry trees
The artist describes a happy memory of getting married.
Under blossom we made our vows
They got married while the cherry blossoms were falling.
All the blossoms come sailing down
The cherry blossoms fall and scatter.
Through the streets and through the playgrounds
The cherry blossoms fly everywhere.
The sun would stream on the sheets
The bedroom was sunlit.
Awoken by the morning bird
The artist and their partner woke up to the sound of a bird.
We'd buy the Sunday newspapers
On Sundays, they bought newspapers.
And never read a single word
They didn't actually read the papers.
Seasons came, seasons went
Time passed.
The winter stripped the blossoms bare
In winter, the cherry blossoms were gone.
A different tree now lines the streets
Another type of tree grows there now.
Shaking its fists in the air
The tree appears to be angry.
The winter slammed us like a fist
They had a very hard winter.
The windows rattling in the gales
The wind was so strong it shook the windows.
To which she drew the curtains
She closed the curtains to shut out the storm.
Made out of her wedding veils
The curtains were made from her wedding dress.
To our love send a dozen white lilies
This is a request for flowers to be sent.
To our love send a coffin of wood
This is a request for a wooden coffin.
To our love let all the pink-eyed pigeons coo
This is a request for pigeons to coo.
That people they just ain't no good
This is the reason for the requests.
To our love send back all the letters
This is a request for letters to be returned.
To our love a valentine of blood
This is a request for a gory valentine.
To our love let all the jilted lovers cry
This is a request for crying lovers.
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
People are not inherently evil.
They can comfort you, some even try
People can be loving and compassionate.
They nurse you when you're ill of health
People help take care of you when you're sick.
They bury you when you go and die
People can be relied upon to help with death rites.
But that's just bullshit baby
But this is not enough to outweigh their negative qualities.
People they ain't no good at all
This is a repetition of the assertion in stronger terms.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Nicholas Cave
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind