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.
The Kindness of Strangers
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bottled light from hotels
Spilling everything
Wet hand from the volcano
Sobers your skin
Stranger than kindness
And grind my soft cold bones below
Your map of desire
Burned in your slave
Even a fool can come
A strange lit stair
And find a rope hanging there
Stranger than kindness
Keys rain like heaven's hair
There is no home, there is no bread
We sit at the gate and scratch
The gaunt fruit of passion
Dies in the light
Stranger than kindness
Your sleeping hands, they journey
They loiter
Stranger than kindness
You hold me so carelessly close
Tell me I'm dirty
I'm a stranger
I'm a stranger
I'm a stranger
To kindness
The seemingly elusive nature of kindness in the human experience is expressed in the song "Stranger Than Kindness" by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of intimate encounters between two people where the presence of kindness is palpable but somehow out of reach. The opening lines "Stranger than kindness, bottled light from hotels, spilling everything, wet hand from the volcano, sobers your skin" suggest that even the most mundane things can become strange or unfamiliar if viewed through the lens of a deeper emotional connection.
As the song progresses, the imagery becomes more surreal and dreamlike, with phrases like "your map of desire burned in your slave" and "keys rain like heaven's hair" portraying a landscape that is both beautiful and dangerous. The line "the gaunt fruit of passion dies in the light" may suggest that the intensity of passion can only exist in the shadows or in a space that is removed from the harshness of reality.
The repetition of "I'm a stranger to kindness" at the end of the song suggests that the characters in the song are unable to fully give or receive kindness, even in moments of physical intimacy. The lyrics offer a glimpse into the complexities of human relationships, and the desire to connect on a deep emotional level even when we feel like strangers.
Line by Line Meaning
Stranger than kindness
The situation is more unusual than what is considered kind or empathetic behavior
Bottled light from hotels
The artificial lighting of a hotel room, captured in a small container or bottle
Spilling everything
Sharing intimate details with someone, even if it may be too much information
Wet hand from the volcano
A hand dampened by the steam from a volcanic eruption, symbolizing the unexpected and sometimes dangerous events that occur in life
Sobers your skin
A sudden feeling of sobriety or clarity that makes one more aware of their surroundings and their own feelings
You caress yourself
Engaging in self-pleasure or self-comfort
And grind my soft cold bones below
Using the singer's body for one's own pleasure, without concern for the singer's comfort or well-being
Your map of desire
The complex and intricate ways in which one's desires (sexual or otherwise) are interconnected
Burned in your slave
Being enslaved by one's own desires or passions, leading to a sense of powerlessness or lack of control
Even a fool can come
The ease with which one can become trapped or lost in their own desires or obsessions
A strange lit stair
A surreal or dreamlike image of a staircase, representing the path one takes to fulfill their desires
And find a rope hanging there
The availability of tools or means to achieve one's desires, even in unexpected places
Keys rain like heaven's hair
Keys falling or raining down from above, symbolizing an abundance of opportunities or choices
There is no home, there is no bread
A sense of lack, emptiness, or desperation that can accompany one's obsessions or desires
We sit at the gate and scratch
The frustration or struggle that can come with trying to satisfy one's desires, feeling stuck or unable to move forward
The gaunt fruit of passion
The negative effects that can result from following one's desires too closely or obsessively, leading to a metaphorical 'gaunt' or withered state
Dies in the light
The end of a relationship or connection due to the harsh light of reality, exposing the flaws or issues that may have been hidden before
Your sleeping hands, they journey
The subconscious thoughts and desires that guide one's actions and movements, even while asleep
They loiter
The aimless or wandering nature of these subconscious thoughts or desires, sometimes leading to indecision or confusion
You hold me so carelessly close
The mix of passion and carelessness that can be present in intimate relationships, leading to a sense of danger or unpredictability
Tell me I'm dirty
The use of language or shaming tactics to further one's own desires, regardless of how it may make the other person feel
I'm a stranger
The artist feels disconnected or removed from their own desires and passions
To kindness
The singer is unable to connect with or understand the empathetic or kind behavior that is expected in social situations
Lyrics © Freibank Musikverlags und vermarktungs GmbH, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Anita Lane, Blixa Bargeld
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mpalumbo27
They found Mary Bellows cuffed to the bed
With a rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
Oh poor Mary Bellows
She'd grown up hungry, she'd grown up poor
She left her home in Arkansas
Oh poor Mary Bellows
She wanted to see the deep blue sea
She traveled across Tennessee
Oh poor Mary Bellows
She met a man along the way
He introduced himself as Richard Slade
Oh poor Mary Bellows
Poor Mary thought that she might die
When she saw the ocean for the first time
Oh poor Mary Bellows
She checked into a cheap little place
Richard Slade carried in her old suitcase
Oh poor Mary Bellows
"I'm a good girl, sir", she said to him
I couldn't possibly permit you in
Oh poor Mary Bellows
Slade tipped his hat and winked his eye
And turned away without goodbye
Oh poor Mary Bellows
She sat on her bed and thought of home
With the sea breeze whistling all alone
Oh poor Mary Bellows
In hope and loneliness she crossed the floor
And undid the latch on her front door
Oh poor Mary Bellows
They found her the next day cuffed to the bed
The rag in her mouth and a bullet in her head
Oh poor Mary Bellows
So mothers keep your girls at home
Don't let them journey all alone
Tell them this world is full of danger
And to shun the company of strangers
Oh poor Mary Bellows
Oh poor Mary Bellows
@PrimitiveInTheExtreme
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