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.
Shivers
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But it really doesn't suit my style,
So I think I'll just act bored instead
Who can take (alt: and contain) the blood I would've shed?
She makes me feel so ugly (alt: so weary) (alt: so ill at ease)
My heart is really on it's knees
But I keep a poker face so well
That even mother couldn't tell
She is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a permanent shiver down my
Spine
I keep her photograph against my heart
For in my life she plays a starring part
All alcohol and cigarettes
There is no room for cheap regrets
But my baby's so vain
She is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a permanent shiver down my
Spine
She makes me feel so ugly
My heart is really on it's knees
But I keep a poker face so well
That even mother couldn't tell
But my baby's so vain
She is almost a mirror
And the sound of her name
Sends a perennial shiver down my
Spiii-yi-yiiii-yi-yiiii-yi-yiyiyi-ine
The lyrics to Nick Cave's song "Shivers" convey a sense of hopelessness and despair. The singer is contemplating suicide but decides it's not the right fit for him. Instead, he chooses to act bored as a way of coping. He has a lover who makes him feel terrible about himself, but he keeps up a facade of strength so well that even his own mother can't see through it. The lover is so vain that she's almost like a mirror, and even just hearing her name sends a permanent shiver down his spine.
The first verse of the song sets the tone for the rest of it. The singer's thoughts are bleak, but he's not quite ready to give up yet. He knows that he can't continue feeling this way, so he decides to try something new. However, it's clear that he's not expecting much from this change in behavior.
The second verse focuses on the singer's lover. She is the source of his pain, and yet he can't seem to let her go. He keeps her photograph close to his heart, even though he knows it's destroying him. The final line of the verse, "There is no room for cheap regrets," suggests that the singer knows he's making a mistake but can't bring himself to do anything differently.
Overall, "Shivers" is a haunting and melancholy song that captures the pain of unrequited love and the struggle to keep going when everything seems hopeless.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been contemplating suicide
I've been thinking about giving up on life
But it really doesn't suit my style
But ending my life doesn't fit with who I am
So I think I'll just act bored instead
So I'll pretend to be uninterested in life
Who can take (alt: and contain) the blood I would've shed?
Who would have to deal with the mess if I end my life?
She makes me feel so ugly (alt: so weary) (alt: so ill at ease)
She makes me feel unattractive, tired, and uncomfortable
My heart is really on it's knees
My emotions are in a vulnerable state
But I keep a poker face so well
But I don't show my true feelings
That even mother couldn't tell
That I'm so good at hiding my emotions, my own mother can't see how I really feel
But my baby's so vain
But the person I care about is obsessed with their own appearance
She is almost a mirror
She reflects my own insecurities back at me
And the sound of her name
And just hearing her name
Sends a permanent shiver down my Spine
Makes me feel uneasy and nervous all the time
I keep her photograph against my heart
I treasure a picture of her close to me
For in my life she plays a starring part
She is a big part of my life
All alcohol and cigarettes
I use vices like drinking and smoking to cope
There is no room for cheap regrets
I try not to dwell on mistakes or bad decisions
Sends a perennial shiver down my Spiii-yi-yiiii-yi-yiiii-yi-yiyi-ine
Continues to make me feel uneasy over time
Lyrics © Mute Song Limited
Written by: Rowland Howard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@fraserbell2666
Fitting tribute to a brilliant talent
@straightgrizzzly7879
Genius level music, written at the ripe old age of 16
@mrpgscott
I have been listening, playing and singing these lyrics for almost 40 years. I am a keyboard player who admires Roland's lick when he recorded it on a solo album. A great artist.
@Highvibin213
Beautiful! God bless RSH🙏🖤
@andjavgarven
Great version!! Love it!!!!
@roblox-vp1rq
1:30 Doesn't he sound fantastic!!! after all this time. Goes to show you what one can do. Lovely song.
@maegalinha6919
Love it, love you Nick!
@billhughes9821
Wow. This is why (despite all the nonsense) YouTube is wonderful thing. Totally unexpected and completely breathtaking. Thank you for posting.
@elbarnetto86
Thank you for sharing. Was an incredible moment in a great night.
@averylucas5880
i know it is kinda randomly asking but does anybody know a good place to stream newly released tv shows online?