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.
We Call Upon the Author
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And what we have now will never be that way again
So we call upon the author to explain
Our myxomatoid kids spraddle the streets
We've shunned them from the greasy grind
The poor little things they look so sad and old
As they mount us from behind
And then we call upon the author to explain
Well, rosary clutched in his hand
He died with tubes up his nose
And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals
Chanted his name in code
We shook our fists at the punishing rain
And we called upon the author to explain
He said, everything is messed up round here
Everything is banal and jejune
There's a planetary conspiracy against the likes of you and me
In this idiot constituency of the moon
Well, he knew exactly who to blame!
And we call upon the author to explain
Prolix! Prolix!
Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix
Well, I go guruing down the street
And young people gather 'round my feet
And they ask me things, but I don't know where to start
They ignite the powder trail straight to my father's heart
And, yeah, once again
I call upon the author to explain
Yeah, we call upon the author to explain
Who is this great burdensome slavering dog-thing
That mediocres my every thought?
I feel like a vacuum cleaner, a complete sucker!
It's fucked up and he is a fucker
But what an enormous and encyclopedic brain!
I call upon the author to explain
Yeah we call upon the author to explain
Alright, yeah
Rampant discrimination
Mass poverty, third world debt
Infectious disease, global inequality
And deepening socio-economic divisions
Well, it does in your brain
We call upon the author to explain
Now hang on
My friend Doug is tapping on the window!
"Hey Doug, how you been?" (hey Doug)
Well, he brings me a book on holocaust poetry, complete with pictures
And then he tells me to get ready for the rain
And we call upon the author to explain
I say, ah
Prolix! Prolix!
Something a pair of scissors can fix
Bukowski was a jerk!
Berryman was best!
He wrote like wet papier-mache
But he went the Hemingway
Weirdly on wings and with maximum pain
We call upon the author to explain
Yeah well I call upon the author to explain
Yeah well down in my bolt hole I see they've published
Another volume of unreconstructed rubbish
"The waves, the waves were soldiers moving"
Well, thank you! Thank you!
Thank you and again
I call upon the author to explain
Yeah I call upon the author to explain
I call upon the author to explain
Yeah we call upon the author to explain
I said
Prolix! Prolix!
There's nothing a pair of scissors can't fix
Nick Cave's song "We Call Upon The Author" is an introspective plea for answers in a world full of confusion and injustice. The opening lyrics reveal a realization that the things we once believed we had in our lives are no longer there, and what we currently have will never be the same. The chorus reflects the desire to call upon the author, presumably an all-knowing and understanding figure, to explain the unexplainable. Throughout the rest of the song, Cave touches on themes of social injustice, discrimination, poverty, disease, and the frustration of not having the answers to these problems.
The second verse introduces the image of "myxomatoid kids" who have been shunned and left behind by society. There is a sense of remorse as Cave describes their sad and old appearance as they mount him from behind. He begs them to stop and calls upon the author to explain why this has to be.
The middle section of the song is more cryptic, with Cave describing a man with a rosary in his hand and tubes up his nose who dies as a group of angels chant his name in code. The group shakes their fists at the rain in anger and once again calls upon the author to explain why these strange occurrences are happening.
Overall, "We Call Upon The Author" is a powerful commentary on the injustices and mysteries that exist in the world, and the human desire for answers and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
What we once thought we had, we didn't
The things we thought we possessed turned out to not be true
And what we have now will never be that way again
Our present state cannot be the same as the past
So we call upon the author to explain
We ask for understanding from a higher power
Our myxomatoid kids spraddle the streets
The children of our society are being mistreated
We've shunned them from the greasy grind
We've pushed them away from the mainstream
The poor little things they look so sad and old
The children have taken on the burden of the world's problems
As they mount us from behind
The children are trying to get our attention in any way possible
I ask them to desist and to refrain!
I try to make them stop, but I don't know how
And then we call upon the author to explain
We still don't understand, so we turn to a higher power for answers
Well, rosary clutched in his hand
This person is seeking guidance through prayer
He died with tubes up his nose
He suffered a painful death
And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals
They were there to celebrate his life after his passing
Chanted his name in code
The angels were speaking in a language that he couldn't understand
We shook our fists at the punishing rain
We were angry at the world for causing so much pain
And we called upon the author to explain
We are still searching for a higher understanding
He said, everything is messed up round here
The state of our world is in chaos
Everything is banal and jejune
Everything is boring and lacking in spirit
There's a planetary conspiracy against the likes of you and me
The world is against us and we're being targeted
In this idiot constituency of the moon
We are living in a world that doesn't make sense to us
Well, he knew exactly who to blame!
He understood who was responsible for the state of our world
And we call upon the author to explain
We are still searching for someone to make sense of it all
Prolix! Prolix!
Words can be excessive and unnecessary
Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix
Sometimes we need to cut through the clutter and simplify
Well, I go guruing down the street
I wander aimlessly, searching for answers
And young people gather 'round my feet
The younger generation looks to me for guidance
And they ask me things, but I don't know where to start
They seek answers, but I don't have them
They ignite the powder trail straight to my father's heart
Their questions hit me deep, as if they were directed at my own father
And, yeah, once again
Once again, I'm at a loss for words
I call upon the author to explain
I turn to a higher power for answers
Who is this great burdensome slavering dog-thing
What is this thing that's weighing me down?
That mediocres my every thought?
It's something that's making me feel average and unremarkable
I feel like a vacuum cleaner, a complete sucker!
I feel like I'm soaking up all the negativity around me
It's fucked up and he is a fucker
The situation is terrible, and whoever is responsible is awful
But what an enormous and encyclopedic brain!
Despite everything, this person has an amazing mind
I call upon the author to explain
I turn to a higher power once again
Rampant discrimination
Discrimination is everywhere
Mass poverty, third world debt
The world is suffering from widespread poverty and debt
Infectious disease, global inequality
Health crises and economic disparity affect everyone
And deepening socio-economic divisions
The gulf between rich and poor continues to grow
Well, it does in your brain
All these problems deeply affect us
We call upon the author to explain
We still don't have answers, so we keep searching
Now hang on
Wait a minute
My friend Doug is tapping on the window!
Someone is trying to get my attention
"Hey Doug, how you been?" (hey Doug)
I greet my friend and ask how he's doing
Well, he brings me a book on holocaust poetry, complete with pictures
He brings me something that will be emotionally heavy and difficult to read
And then he tells me to get ready for the rain
He warns me that something difficult is coming
And we call upon the author to explain
We seek understanding from a higher power
Prolix! Prolix!
Words can be excessive and unnecessary
Something a pair of scissors can fix
Sometimes we need to cut through the clutter and simplify
Bukowski was a jerk!
The singer doesn't appreciate Bukowski's writing
Berryman was best!
The singer prefers Berryman's writing
He wrote like wet papier-mache
Bukowski's writing was flimsy and unappealing
But he went the Hemingway
Unlike Bukowski, Berryman had something of substance to say
Weirdly on wings and with maximum pain
Berryman's writing was unique and powerful
We call upon the author to explain
We look to a higher power for answers once again
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Mute Song Limited
Written by: Nicholas Cave, Warren Ellis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind