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 Good Son
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
One more man gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man is gone
The good son walks into the field
He is a tiller, he has a tiller's hands
But deep down in his heart now
He's a-laid down queer plans
Against his brother and against his family
Yet he worships his brother
And he worships his mother
But it's his father, he says, is an unfair man
The good son
The good son
The good son
The good son has sat and often wept
Beneath a malign star by which the good son's kept
And the night-time in which he's wrapped
Speaks of good now and it speaks of evil
And he calls to his mother
And he calls to his father
But they are deaf in the shadows
Of his brother's truancy
The good son
The good son
The good son
The good son
And he curses his mother
And he curses his father
And he curses his virtue like an unclean thing
The good son
The good son
The good son
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man is gone
One more man (he's gone)
One more man is gone
One more man is gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man is gone
One more man
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man is gone
One more man (he's gone)
One more man gone
One more man gone
One more man gone
The good son (one more man gone)
The good son (one more man gone)
The good son now is gone (one more man)
The good son (one more man gone)
The good son (one more man gone)
The good son now is gone (one more man)
One more man gone
One more man gone
The good son
The good son
The good son
The lyrics of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' song The Good Son deal with themes of family, loyalty, betrayal, and the struggle between good and evil. The repetition of the phrase “One more man gone” throughout the song suggests a sense of loss and a growing sense of unease. The singer, the titular “good son,” is introduced as a peaceful and hard-working individual, a tiller, but we come to learn that he has hidden motivations and desires that go against the wishes of his family.
As the song unfolds, it is revealed that the good son is planning something against his family and his brother, but despite this, he still worships them. He sees his father as an unfair man, but he still respects and loves his brother and mother. However, his attempts to reach out to his family members are futile, and he is left feeling bitter and angry towards them. He curses his own virtue, feeling like an unclean thing, and ultimately we are left with the impression that he has become one more man gone.
Line by Line Meaning
One more man gone
The loss of yet another life
One more man is gone
Acknowledging that someone is no longer with us
The good son walks into the field
A description of the singer and his immediate surroundings
He is a tiller, he has a tiller's hands
Implying that the artist is a farmer, skilled in working the land
But deep down in his heart now
The artist harbors dark thoughts and feelings
He's a-laid down queer plans
The singer has sinister intentions
Against his brother and against his family
The singer is plotting against his own flesh and blood
Yet he worships his brother
Despite his animosity, the artist still looks up to his sibling
And he worships his mother
The artist still regards his mother with affection
But it's his father, he says, is an unfair man
The artist takes issue with his father, viewing him as unjust
The good son
Reiterating the focus of the song on the singer
The good son has sat and often wept
The artist is given an emotional depth, shown to experience sorrow and pain
Beneath a malign star by which the good son's kept
The singer has a sense of being trapped or cursed
And the night-time in which he's wrapped
The singer is shrouded in darkness
Speaks of good now and it speaks of evil
The world that the singer inhabits is one of moral ambiguity
And he calls to his mother
The artist is still seeking guidance and comfort from his mom
And he calls to his father
The artist also reaches out to his father, despite their troubled relationship
But they are deaf in the shadows
The singer's parents are not able to help him in his time of need
Of his brother's truancy
The antagonist's absence is another source of stress for the singer
And he curses his mother
The artist's feelings of betrayal lead him to lash out even at those he loves
And he curses his father
The artist is at a breaking point, blaming his dad for his pain
And he curses his virtue like an unclean thing
The artist has lost faith in his own goodness
One more man (he's gone)
Repeated reminder of the loss of someone's life
The good son now is gone (one more man)
The artist has met a tragic end, becoming just another man who is gone
The good son
Final mention of the singer, who has reached his untimely demise
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Nicholas Cave
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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