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.
Rings of Saturn
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high and skyward
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her eyes that look at me through her rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Now this is what she does and this is what she is (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
This is what she is and this is what she does (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
"Are you still here?" (ooh ooh oh, ooh ooh oh)
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
The lyrics to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' song "Rings Of Saturn" paint a vivid, almost surreal picture of a woman who is upside down and inside out, moving around in a seemingly erratic manner, like a funnel-web spider or a black fly on the ceiling. Her body is described as having skinny, white haunches high and skyward, with wet, black fur against the setting sun. The singer seems to be both mesmerized and confused by her, as he describes her eyes looking at him through her rainy hair, and her moon blue body resembling a jellyfish. He is both present and not present, spurting ink over the sheets, while she remains completely unexplained.
The chorus of the song repeats the lines "This is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be/ Now this is what she does and this is what she is." It suggests that the woman is meant to be in this strange and almost otherworldly state, and that what she is doing is somehow natural to her. The final lines describe her "jumping up with her leaping brain," and "dangling herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn," suggesting that she has broken free from the confines of reality and is now existing in some kind of imaginative, dreamlike realm.
Overall, the lyrics to "Rings Of Saturn" are mysterious, poetic, and open to interpretation. They evoke a strong sense of otherworldliness and suggest that the woman described in the song has somehow transcended the bounds of reality and is now living in a place of her own creation.
Line by Line Meaning
Upside down and inside out and on all eights
The subject is in a very disorienting position.
You're like a funnel-web
The subject is dangerous and possibly venomous.
Like a black fly on the ceiling
The subject is small and hard to catch.
Skinny, white haunches high and skyward
The subject's posture is very prominent and attention-grabbing.
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
The subject is causing some kind of destruction while moving backwards.
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
The subject's fur is dark and wet, and it contrasts sharply with the setting sun.
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
The subject is visible from very far away, and it is watching the people below it.
Her eyes that look at me through her rainy hair
The subject is looking at the artist through its hair, which is wet from the rain.
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in
The subject's eyes are very intense and seem to be sucking the air in around them.
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish
The subject has a bluish tint to it and moves gracefully, like a jellyfish.
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there
The singer is experiencing some kind of out-of-body phenomenon.
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
The subject is causing some kind of mess, possibly by spraying ink everywhere, but it is still a mystery to the artist.
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
The singer may be too overwhelmed or confused to understand what is happening.
I thought slavery had been abolished
The singer is bringing up the issue of slavery, possibly as a metaphor for something else.
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
The singer is asking why a seemingly abolished social problem is still affecting people today.
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
The subject is jumping around energetically, possibly showing off its intelligence.
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children
The subject is moving quickly and without regard for the people around it.
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
The subject is moving in a very erratic, unpredictable way.
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed
The subject is moving vertically and leaving the singer behind.
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for a moment and turns and says
The subject is leaving the room where the artist is, but stops to acknowledge them before leaving.
"Are you still here?"
The subject is surprised to see the artist still in the room.
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
The subject is doing something very imaginative and fantastical, and possibly unreachable.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: NICHOLAS CAVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@arvoloide
Upside down and inside out and on all eights
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high in the sky
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
Her eyes that look at me through a rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
This is what she is and this is what she does
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
Then this is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
"Are you still here?"
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
source: https://www.lyricsondemand.com/n/nickcaveandthebadseedslyrics/skeletontreealbumlyrics.html
@iandism
Upside down and inside out [?]
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high in the sky
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
Her eyes that look at me through a rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
This is what she is and this is what she does
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
Then this is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
"Are you still here?"
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
@binescuae
Lyrics: Rings of Saturn - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Upside down and inside out and on all eights
You're like a funnel-web
Like a black fly on the ceiling
Skinny, white haunches high in the skyward
And a black oily gash crawling backwards across the carpet to smash all over everything
Wet, black fur against the sun going down
Over the shops and the cars and the crowds in the town
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
Now this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly where she is born to be
This is what she does and this is what she is
Her eyes that look at me through a rainy hair
Two round holes where the air buckles and rushes in
Her body, moon blue, was a jellyfish
And I'm breathing deep and I'm there and I'm also not there
And spurting ink over the sheets but she remains, completely unexplained
Or maybe I'm just too tongue-tied to drink it up and swallow back the pain
I thought slavery had been abolished
How come it's gone and reared its ugly head again?
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
This is what she is and this is what she does
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
And this is what she does and this is what she is
And this is the moment, this is exactly what she is born to be
Then this is what she does and this is what she is
And now she's jumping up with her leaping brain
Stepping over heaps of sleeping children
Disappearing and further up and spinning out again
Up and further up she goes, up and out of the bed
Up and out of the bed and down the hall where she stops for moment and turns and says
Are you still here?
And then reaches high and dangles herself like a child's dream from the rings of Saturn
@igorniemczyk2442
Informacja Zwrotna - niesamowicie wzruszające zakończenie serialu. Dzięki za przypomnienie tej przepięknej piosenki
@Mar.C
Ciary...
@josharpe5605
Która seria?
@Inclusus
@@josharpe5605 jedyna i słuszna
@josharpe5605
@@Inclusus Jest wiele świetnych przedstawień.
@Inclusus
@@josharpe5605 mówisz o teatrze? Bo mi chodzi o serial netflixa
@Mayoninja
I get some serious R.E.M. 'E-Bow the Letter' vibes from this one...that's a good thing.
@Qvlvids
Definitely my favourite song on the album. The "This is the moment, this is exactly what she's supposed to be" part evokes empathy.
@TheTimeOfThePlace
don't forget ever, or do, whatever, don't feel bad about it, it's easy to forget, but try to hold it in mind, that is the effort, remember, now
@aimeegaffney624
yes...I was trying to grab that word and sentiment about that line " this is the moment this is exactly what she's supposed to be..." just as it IS...but so full of loss/capsizing/ moving....