I never expect anyone I meet to enjoy the same music as me. Some people I know won’t give 99% of my favorite bands even a second of their time. The same especially goes for the music of Nick Cave, but hey you don't have to listen to good music if you don't want to, I always say. I think the one thing about Nick Cave is just about anyone should be able to appreciate his lyrics since he’s such a great writer and brilliant story teller. Such is exactly the case with his masterpiece. ‘Murder Ballads,’ which is a collection of ten songs which tell stories of murder and unspeakably death where allegedly sixty some people meet their maker.
Murder Ballads like a lot of Nick Cave’s album is a rather minimal affair sometimes featuring just repetitive guitar and bass lines, organ or piano, and sometimes violins are the usual instruments found on this recording. What makes the album so fascinating though is of course Nick’s voice, and his lyrics which won’t disappoint you for a second. The first song to really catch my attention on this record is the song, ‘Stagger Lee,’ which is a song about a guy named Stagger Lee who gets kicked out of his house by his wife, goes to a bar and shots the bartender, picks up a whore, goes back to her place, then he forces the whores boyfriend to go down on him and then shots him in the head. And yes in case you’re wondering it’s quite a humorous song and mighty catchy one at that.
One of the more melancholic songs on the recording is, ‘Where the Wild Roses Grow,’ which features backing vocals from English pop star Kylie Minogue. Lyrically this one deals with a guy that takes his love down to the shore and clocks her over the head with a large rock. Musically this is probably the most elaborate song on the recording featuring a steady acoustic guitar, piano, and some very beautiful orchestral strings. Then there’s, ‘The Curse of Millhaven,’ which is one of the most bizarre songs you’ll ever hear. Lyrically this one talks of a little girl that goes on a murderous rampage while the townsfolk think its merely just some sort of curse on their little town. What’s makes the song so weird though is that several people die in this song yet the music is upbeat and really festive the whole way though. It’s really in this song where Nick proves what a fantastic writer he is since he goes into such great detail about each murder and the killer Loretta.
Then there’s the fourteen minute epic and my personal favorite song on the recording, ‘O’Malley’s Bar.’ This one talks of a man whose lived in a town for several years yet no one knows him so he goes on a homicidal riot at a bar. Again like, ‘The Curse of Millhaven’ if it wasn’t for the great lyrics this song would be pretty boring since the music doesn’t change much at all for those fourteen minutes. Nick goes into such great detail about each murder (even mentioning each person’s name) and the aftermath of each that he’ll have you hanging on to each of his words wondering what might happen next.
Taken as a whole Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads is nothing short of complete perfection. The lyrics are amazing; sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, and sometimes really depressing, but regardless of what Nick is writing about Murder Ballads is a fantastic album, and as such its probably one of the best albums to start an interest in Mr. Cave’s music.
Lyric excerpt from, 'O'Malley's Bar:' I blew a hole in Mrs. Richard Holmes, And her husband stupidly stood up , As he screamed, "You are an evil man", I paused a while to wonder, "If I have no free will then how can I be morally culpable, I wonder", I shot Richard Holmes in the stomach, And gingerly he sat down, And he whispered weirdly, "No offense", And then lay upon the ground , "None taken", I replied to him, To which he gave a little cough, With blazing wings I neatly aimed, And blew his head completely off!
No comments:
Post a Comment