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.
Your Funeral My Trial
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I've walked a crooked mile
Night, the shameless widow
Doffed her weeds, in a pile
The stars all winked at me
They shamed a child
Your funeral, my trial
One thousand Marys lured me
Into gullies damned with clover
Bird with crooked wing cast
Its wicked shadow over
The bauble moon did mock
And trinket stars did smile
Your funeral, my trial
Here I am, little lamb
Let all the bells in whoredom ring
All the crooked bitches that she was
Mongers of pain
Saw the moon
Become a fang
Your funeral, my trial
Your funeral, my trial
Your funeral, my trial
In "Your Funeral My Trial," Nick Cave presents an enigmatic and haunting narrative that is open to symbolic interpretation. The lyrics introduce a "crooked man" who has walked a "crooked mile," which suggests an untrustworthy and deviant character. The "night, the shameless widow" has stripped off her mourning garments, which symbolizes a departure from mourning and the beginning of something new. As the "stars all winked," it becomes evident that they are not shining with their usual purity - instead, they "shamed a child." The singer seems to have committed some wrongdoing, and the stars' shame serves as a cosmic indictment. The chorus "Your funeral, my trial" suggests that a conflict is brewing, and the singer is the one who is about to face a reckoning.
The second verse introduces "one thousand Marys" who lure the singer into "gullies damned with clover." The mention of Mary is likely biblical allusion, and the "clover" is often associated with luck, but in this context, it serves as a sign of something ominous. The "bird with the crooked wing," which casts its "wicked shadow over" further emphasizes this ominous tone. The moon and stars' mockery and smiling are both unsettling, and the chorus repeats again, driving home the sense of impending doom.
Line by Line Meaning
I am a crooked man
I am a person with a twisted and distorted character or nature
And I've walked a crooked mile
I have lived a life with many wrongs and deceits
Night, the shameless widow
Personification of the night as a widow who has no shame for her deeds
Doffed her weeds, in a pile
She stripped off her black mourning clothes and left them in a heap
The stars all winked at me
The stars mocked me with their playful movements
They shamed a child
They made me feel small and embarrassed like a child
Your funeral, my trial
Your death is the beginning of my judgment and suffering
One thousand Marys lured me
Many women, possibly prostitutes, enticed and seduced me
Into gullies damned with clover
Into valleys of sin, filled with abundant temptation
Bird with crooked wing cast
A deformed bird threw
Its wicked shadow over
Its ominous presence and movements onto the scene
The bauble moon did mock
The full moon appeared to make fun of me with its frivolous design
And trinket stars did smile
The stars shone with a mischievous and mocking expression
Here I am, little lamb
Here I am, weak and vulnerable like a lamb
Let all the bells in whoredom ring
Let all the bells in the brothel ring, indicating the beginning of immoral activities
All the crooked bitches that she was
All the women who were as crooked as she was
Mongers of pain
Those who profited from causing pain and suffering
Saw the moon become a fang
Saw the moon transform into a sharp tooth resembling that of a wolf
Your funeral, my trial
Your death has brought about my judgment and punishment
Your funeral, my trial
Your death has initiated the examination of my guilt and innocence
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Nick Cave
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@estebanramosjimenez7291
One of my favorite Nick's song ...
Powerful...
Harsh and poetic.
@husseltoo
The first Nick Cave album I've laid my hands on. Too soon for me to fully understand it in my early teenage years, but in a world back then populated by fast food music and fashion, this stood out like a sore thumb that I will gladly nurse till the end of my days.
@darinpaterson4403
Double 45 RPM, they sound so good, even today. One of my most favored possessions
@SukieOOO
Sleep now , it can only get better tomorrow right ?
@TheFusiform
Any experts here able to offer insight into why the track listing was different for the CD pressings? I love the album opening with this track (the cd was my first experience with the album), but all the streaming services present the original release order. Any clues for the changes?
@gabi.hellobabe
:)