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.
Up Jumped the Devil
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What a wretched life
I was born on the day
That my poor mama died
I was cut from her belly
With a Stanley knife
My daddy did a jig
With the drunk midwife
Who's that yonder all in flames
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Who's that yonder all in flames
Well, up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim on me
Oh, poor heart
I was doomed from the start
Doomed to play
The villain's part
I was the baddest Johnny
In the apple cart
My blood was blacker
Than the chambers of a dead nun's heart
Oh, who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Who's that milling 'round the courthouse steps
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept
Oh no, oh no
Where could I go
With my hump of trouble
And my sack of woe
To the digs and the deserts of Mexico
Where my neck was safer from the lynching rope
Who's that yonder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who's that yonder laughing at me
Well up jumped the Devil, one, two, three
H-h-h-h-h-how lucky we were
We hit the cathouses
And we sampled their wares
We got as drunk
As a couple of Czars
That night I swallowed
My lucky stars
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Up jumped the Devil and said "Here is your man and I got a proof"
Oh no, oh no, don't go
Oh, slow down Joe
The righteous path is straight as an arrow
Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow
Too narrow for the likes of me
Who's that hanging from the gallows tree
His eyes are plucked but he looks like me
Now who's that swinging from the gallows tree
Up jumped the Devil and he took my soul from me
Down, down, down
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
The Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
Down, down, down
The Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
For eternity
Yeah, the Devil and me
Down we go
Down we go
Down we go
Down, down, down
Hell fire and flames
Down we go
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
Down we go
Down we go
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds's song "Up Jumped the Devil" is a haunting and chilling tale that tells the story of a man who was born into a life of wretchedness and despair. The lyrics describe how the man was born on the day of his mother's death and that he was cut from her belly with a Stanley knife. The man's father then celebrated by doing a jig with a drunk midwife. The song then goes on to describe how the Devil staked his claim on the man, who was always doomed to play the villain's part. The man's blood was blacker than the chambers of a dead nun's heart, and he was constantly followed by the Devil, who seemed to be always lurking just around the corner.
The song continues with the man traveling to Mexico, where he hoped to escape from the lynching rope that was always around his neck. He spends his time in cathouses, getting drunk and enjoying himself as much as possible. But the Devil is always there, watching and waiting for his chance to take the man's soul. The song ends with the man being hanged from the gallows tree, and the Devil taking his soul from him as he swings in the wind.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh my, oh my
Expressing deep dismay and sadness.
What a wretched life
A life filled with misery, sadness and suffering.
I was born on the day
The day I was born was also the day my mother died.
That my poor mama died
My mother died while giving birth to me.
I was cut from her belly
I was born via a C-section.
With a Stanley knife
The surgical tool used to perform the C-section was a Stanley knife.
My daddy did a jig
My father danced in a happy manner.
With the drunk midwife
The midwife who assisted in my birth was intoxicated.
Who's that yonder all in flames
Someone in flames is approaching.
Dragging behind him a sack of chains
Carrying around a heavy and burdensome sack of chains.
Well, up jumped the Devil and he staked his claim on me
The devil has claimed me as his own.
Oh, poor heart
Oh, my unlucky self.
I was doomed from the start
I was destined for failure since birth.
Doomed to play
Destined to act out a certain role.
The villain's part
The role of the antagonist or bad guy.
I was the baddest Johnny
I was the most wicked and evil person.
In the apple cart
In the middle of everything.
My blood was blacker
My soul was darker and more corrupted.
Than the chambers of a dead nun's heart
Extremely corrupt and evil.
Oh, who's that milling on the courthouse steps
Someone is loitering near the courthouse.
Nailing my face to the hitching fence
Someone is attacking me and leaving me to suffer.
Up jumped the Devil and off he crept
The devil appears and then disappears mysteriously.
Oh no, oh no
Oh, this is terrible news.
Where could I go
Where could I possibly escape to.
With my hump of trouble
With all my personal problems and issues.
And my sack of woe
And all my negative emotions and sorrows.
To the digs and the deserts of Mexico
Going to a far-off place.
Where my neck was safer from the lynching rope
Going somewhere where I wouldn't be punished and executed.
Who's that yonder laughing at me
Someone is laughing or mocking me from afar.
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
As if I was being laughed at and ridiculed.
Well up jumped the Devil, one, two, three
The devil appears suddenly and quickly.
H-h-h-h-h-how lucky we were
How fortunate it was.
We hit the cathouses
We went to brothels.
And we sampled their wares
And had sex with the women there.
We got as drunk
We drank excessively.
As a couple of Czars
As if we were Russian royalty.
That night I swallowed
That night, I realized the significance of something.
My lucky stars
How fortunate I was to have avoided bad luck that night.
Who's that dancing on the jailhouse roof
Someone is celebrating on the roof of the jailhouse.
Stamping on the ramping with a cloven hoof
Made a lot of noise and created chaos.
Up jumped the Devil and said
The devil suddenly arrives and speaks.
"Here is your man and I got a proof"
Claiming responsibility for having captured someone.
Oh no, oh no, don't go
Oh, please stay here.
Oh, slow down Joe
Slow down and think about your actions.
The righteous path is straight as an arrow
The morally correct path is clear and easy to follow.
Take a walk and you'll find it's too narrow
Trying to take the morally correct path is much harder than initially thought.
Too narrow for the likes of me
I don't have the moral fiber to stick to the right path.
Who's that hanging from the gallows tree
Someone is being executed by hanging.
His eyes are plucked but he looks like me
The executed person resembles me to a degree.
Now who's that swinging from the gallows tree
Another person is being executed by hanging.
Up jumped the Devil and he took my soul from me
The devil takes my soul after the execution.
Down, down, down
Descending deeper downward.
Down we go
Descending deeper downward together with the devil.
The Devil and me
Together, myself and the Devil.
For eternity
Forever and ever.
Hell fire and flames
In the midst of hell and its fires.
Down we go the Devil and me to Eternity
We are descending deeper down together into the eternal Hellfire.
Down we go
Continuing our descent downward.
Down, down, down
Further and further downward.
Lyrics © Freibank Musikverlags und vermarktungs GmbH, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Blixa Bargeld, Kid Powers, Michael Harvey, Nicholas Cave, Roland Wolf, Thomas Wydler
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@hermione2655
Probably my favourite of him