My Top 10 Favorite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Songs!

by Alex Goode

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is my favorite band of all time. The band got their start in 1983 (after briefly being called "The Birthday Party) and are still releasing music to this day. As of the day this blog was written, the Bad Seeds have released sixteen studio albums, the most recent one being the 2016 release of Skeleton Tree. They've also announced a live EP (titled "Distant Sky - Live in Copenhagen") that drops on the 28th of September. Sadly, a couple of days ago, Bad Seeds pianist Conway Savage passed away. And so, I am releasing this list to both honor Mr. Savage's legacy and to pay tribute to one of the best bands ever to exist. They have so many great songs that it was really hard to condense it down to just ten, but I think I did it fairly well. These are my top ten favorite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds songs!

#10 - "Nature Boy"

"Nature Boy" was the sixth track off of the Bad Seeds double album titled Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. No, it isn't a cover. As it is with most of Cave's songs, his writing makes this track into more of a story than a song. There are a lot of ways to interpret the lyrics of this song. Here's my take on it: Three verses, each one telling a different story. The first verse comments on the violence on television and how it can strength your will, the second verse talks about love at first sight, and the third verse is mostly just word salad. But it's very good word salad, so it's passable. A catchy melody, one of their best instrumentals, "Nature Boy" is a classic Bad Seeds track.

#9 - "Bring It On"

This song was the fourth track from their album Nocturama and features Chris Bailey doing guest vocals on the chorus. The song was also featured in an episode of Peaky Blinders, along with a couple other Bad Seeds songs. It features a catchy, funky instrumental, Cave giving one of the best vocal performances of his career, and Bailey does a good job of matching him. All around, it's a very good song. The music video is weirdly hilarious, though, featuring scantily clad women dancing all over it. Not what I'd expect from a Nick Cave video. I hear it's a satire of other music videos of that nature, though, and was intended as a joke. If that's the case, it works. It really doesn't matter in the case of this blog, though, cause I can't find an HD version of the video anywhere, so I'll leave it with the audio version and just move on with my life.

#8 - "Red Right Hand"

Ah, "Red Right Hand". One of the group's most popular songs by far. The fifth track off of their album Let Love In, this song has been featured in a number of soundtracks, including Scream, Peaky Blinders, and (of all things) Dumb and Dumber. This song is dark, it's creepy, it's classic Cave. With a chilling instrumental, Cave's deep and ominous vocals, and lyrics that tell the story of a shady man that you really don't wanna meet in a dark ally, this song is so good that it's unreal! This song honestly needs to be used in more horror soundtracks, Wes Craven had the right idea by putting it in Scream. The Arctic Monkeys cover was pretty good, too.

#7 - "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!"

Strange title, isn't it? Well, don't let that fool you. This song rocks! The first/title track off of the Bad Seeds album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, this spoken word epic is some of the best work that the Bad Seeds have ever produced. The album came off of the heels of the first Grinderman record (Nick Cave's side project), and the influences are evident, especially in this first song. The hook will get stuck in your head and never leave it, the instrumental will make you wanna dance, and the lyrics tell a pretty interesting story. I like that Nick is reading the lyrics like a poem instead of singing them like a song, it's really cool to hear. It's almost as if he's preaching in a church; It has sort of a gospel-esque feel to it, as so a lot of Cave's other songs, but this one certainly does it the coolest.

#6 - "Stagger Lee"

The only cover on this list, "Stagger Lee" (also spelled "Stagolee" is a traditional American folk song that deals with the 1895 murderer Lee "Stag" Shelton. You can see where the title comes from, then. A large number of artists have given their own interpretations of this song (including Bob Dylan, Lloyd Price, and even Sam Jackson did his own spin on it in the movie Black Snake Moan), but none of them are as dark and as gritty as the one Nick Cave did. This song is the second track on their album Murder Ballads. It's a dark record, and this song is a perfect example of it. The instrumental is funky and ominous, Cave is borderline rapping the lyrics, and the last thirty seconds or so is just blood-curdling screaming as the beat fades out. Fun times! I will say: The lyrics are very unintentionally funny, and I mean that in the best of ways. Here's a video of the song. Explicit language warning.

#5 - "I Need You"

This song makes me sad. It's the sixth track on their most recent studio album, as of the day this blog was published, Skeleton Tree. The album was released after the tragic death of Cave's son in a rock climbing accident. The lyrics of the songs on Skeleton Tree deal greatly with loss and personal grief, especially "I Need You". I sobbed for close to thirty minutes the first time I heard it and I still can't listen to it without choking up. It's tragic, it's heartbreaking, it's beautiful. I can only imagine how difficult it must've been to record this song. This is my favorite song off of Skeleton Tree. The simple, yet haunting, instrumental, the chorus of backup singers, the complete and utter pain in Cave's voice as he performs the melody. It all comes together so magically. I dare you to listen to this song and not tear up! You can't. It's impossible. It's absolutely not possible.

#4 - "Straight to You"

Let's be happy for a moment! This song is the third track on their album Henry's Dream. The album itself is a collection of some of the Bad Seeds' best work, and "Straight to You" is easily the cream of the crop when it comes to this set. The backing track is, simply put, some the greatest music ever put to a song. Full stop. It's gorgeous. And the lyrics perfectly match it. This is some of Cave's finest songwriting, with the third verse/chorus being my favorite part of it. I love the organ in the background of the music, it really adds a mellow vibe to the song. Overall, when I want to listen to a great Bad Seeds track, I'll come running straight to "Straight to You"

#3 - "O Children"

This was the song that introduced me to the Bad Seeds! Returning to Abattoir/Opus, this song was the seventeenth track on that record, and the one that closed the whole thing out. And what a finisher it was! Some of you out there might know this song from its use in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 in the scene where Hermione and Harry dance in the tent. I still think Hermione and Harry should've ended up together, but that's another topic for another day. I'm getting off-topic. The backing track is slow and melancholy, the lyrics tell a depressing story of loss and grief, and Cave's vocal performance, once again, brings it all together. I love the backup singers in this song, as well. The harmonies are really soothing. This song is one of my favorites, not just by them, but in general.

#2 - "The Mercy Seat"

Another of the band's most popular songs, although some of you probably know it only from Johnny Cash. Well, it was Cave's song originally. Cash did a great cover, but Cave's original creation is unbeatable. "The Mercy Seat" was the first track on the Bad Seeds album Tender Prey, giving it a really strong opening. Since it's release, it's become one of the band's signature songs, alongside "Red Right Hand" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow". The lyrics tell the story of a man on death row as he tries to come to terms with his religion and prove his innocence. This is a very dark song in all aspects of it, and I love every second of it. Cave's vocals on the verses are genuinely creepy, and that chorus features one of the catchiest melodies I've ever heard. This song is one of their most popular for a reason. It's that good.

Before I unveil my top pick, here's a few Bad Seeds songs that are so good that they deserve to be listed as honorable mentions because I'm a dirty sellout that can't make up his mind about things.

• "Breathless" off of Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Opus. A sweet song about someone's over being the most important person in the universe to them. Very nice.
• "(Are You) The One I've Been Waiting For" off of The Boatman's Call. Another love song, from an album full of love songs. This one features very poetic lyrics that I adore.
• "The Weeping Song" off of The Good Son. A father-son story sung by Cave (as the son) and longtime Bad Seed member Blixa Bargeld (as the father). Blixa left the band in 2003, sadly, but the song still holds up.
• "Cannibal's Hymn" off of Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Opus. Funky instrumental that you can't help but dance to and a chorus that features of Cave's best songwriting. Good stuff.
• "O'Malley's Bar" off of Murder Ballads. This song is fifteen minutes long and it doesn't drag once. The lyrics aren't quite as brutal as "Stagger Lee", but it's almost there.
• "Higgs Boson Blues" off of Push the Sky Away. Another classic Nick Cave ballad song. Again, the lyrics are mostly word salad, but it's got such a chilled out vibe to it that you don't really notice.
• "Distant Sky" off of Skeleton Tree. I love this song so much. The melody is hauntingly soothing. Guest singer Else Torp knocks it out of the park. Her voice is beautiful!
• "People Ain't No Good" off of The Boatman's Call. Remember that scene in Shrek 2 when the gang is sad about losing Fiona at the bar? Yeah, that was this song.
• "Tupelo" off of The Firstborn is Dead. This song is epic. The thunderclap that begins and ends the song is awesome and Cave's vocals kinda makes me wonder what he'd be like as a horror villain.
• "Hallelujah" off of No More Shall We Part. Not a cover, but is instead an original song that tells a decently easy to follow story and has a pretty chilling ending. Decent album, great song.

#1 - "We No Who U R"

My top pick once again comes off of the Push the Sky Away album, with this one being the headlining track. This is my favorite Bad Seeds song for a multitude of reasons. The soothing backing track, Cave's hypnotic vocal performance, the backup singers in the chorus, and the fact that the video is just a man taking a stroll into a forest are the main ones. "We No Who U R" is a very beautiful way of telling someone that you're gonna take them for a walk in the woods and that they'll never be seen again. Every time I hear this song, no matter what mood I'm in, I instantly start to cool off and calm down. It's just such a calming song. You could probably use it as a lullaby for your children. It might not be their most popular song, but it is certainly my favorite. Good show, Mr. Cave.

And there you have it! Those were my top ten favorite Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds songs! Thanks for sitting through this extremely long blog. I promise my next one will be shorter. R.I.P Conway Savage; Keep on rockin' Bad Seeds!